Encounters of the Unexpected Kind
by Shadow Oblivion
Summary: Cloud wondered if perhaps someone enjoyed throwing unexpected things his way. An unconscious and injured man in his yard being one of the more extreme examples. At least he wasn't being stalked by something invisible like Demyx was, or followed around by an unwanted admirer like Roxas. It was still a little odd either way. AU-multiple pairings. -formerly titled Odd Ends Meet-
1. Chapter 1

This will probably be the only long A/N of this story, but I wanted to explain a little before I post the other chapters.

I've been working on this story on and off for nearly three years, and have finally decided to post it. This is an AU story, like the summary said, and I have over half the story written. Since I've been posting Kuroshitsuji stories, it made me think of this story and all its pairings (probably only one of two KH stories that I will post that will have yaoi in it), and made me motivated to actually put up the first chapter.

I hope that this story isn't too close to any other stories posted, as it is difficult to look through all of the stories posted. I will attempt to keep this story T. For the story, most of the characters will be the same age, except for a few of them. I'll put that at the end of the next chapter. The first chapter is more of a prologue, introducing some of the main characters (Demyx, Leon and Cloud). Weird title, but oh well.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Kingdom Hearts series.

1212

Radiant Garden was very quiet and serene at night. The town's public library also had a calm feeling about it, though it could have just been the pleasant breeze that had picked up. It was nearing midnight, and the town was asleep in their homes, though movement could be seen within the library.

The only person left in the library was a young man with an odd hairstyle, somewhere between a mullet and a mowhawk. Demyx let out a soft sigh and glanced around the main area of the library. He was the last employee there, as he had opted to stay behind and catch up on some work. As the head librarian, he felt the need to do it himself (although he would have much preferred to go home as soon as the library had closed). Demyx had allowed himself to be convinced to stay by Lexaeus and Kairi (a part time worker), as she had needed to go home and work on homework.

Shaking his head, Demyx began to check the books again. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could go home to his apartment...although...Demyx didn't want to wonder at the moment if Marluxia and Larxene were still awake. Demyx set aside another book and sighed heavily. Why he had agreed to let those two rent from him was a mystery. It just suddenly happened one day. While Marluxia and Larxene shared an apartment with Demyx, it didn't mean that the three of them got along.

Marluxia and Larxene both worked from morning until evening, though neither of them would tell Demyx where they went or what they even did as a job. Not that Demyx had really pressed the matter. As long as they payed rent and weren't too rowdy, Demyx didn't mind. Though he did have some trouble sleeping at night, when Marluxia and Larxene would...

Thunk. Ca-THUNK!

Demyx looked up sharply, startled by the sudden noise. What had that been? Demyx glanced around the otherwise now silent library. Had the sound come from the library's basement? Demyx shook his head. That couldn't be. he knew for a fact that he had been the only one to stay behind, and that all the doors had been locked. Feeling slightly better at this thought, Demyx resumed his work, hoping to be done with it soon.

The sounds, however, persisted.

Ca-Thunk.

Thud.

Bang...CRASH!

Demyx jumped involuntarily, turning in the direction of the basement, heart racing from the unexpected noise. Had someone broken into the library though the basement windows? Against his better judgment, Demyx approached the door that led to the basement,and opened the door carefully. Demyx stood still at the top of the stairs, and when he didn't hear anything moving down there, slowly went down the stairs. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, peering around the room anxiously.

The basement of the library looked as it always did, where it housed older books out of any humidity, to preserve them and avoid damage.

Demyx approached the only window of the basement, and was immediately relieved to see that it was unbroken. Only half the dark night sky was visible, as half the basement was underground. Demyx shook his head once more. He didn't need to get so paranoid this late at night. At this rate, he'd never get to sleep once he got back to his apartment. Demyx started to head back up the stairs, when his attention was caught by something hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Sighing, and wanting nothing more than to go home and to bed, Demyx turned and walked back down the stairs, heading in the direction that he had heard the sound. After a quick search, Demyx found a book lying on the ground. Demyx picked the book up and examined the cover to see what section it was from. The title red: 'Ghosts of the Past.' Demyx frowned, wondering why a paranormal book was all the way down here in the basement, when it was supposed to be up on the second floor.

Demyx headed back for the stairs, wondering vaguely why he kept finding ghost/spirit books down there. It was the fifth book that week. A slight chill went down Demyx's spine, and he quickly glanced over one shoulder, stopping himself from running. He thought he had seen something move in the dimness of the room. Demyx stiffened when he thought he saw something lurking in the far corner of the basement. Demyx jumped slightly when he made out a shape heading in his direction, moving from bookcase to bookcase and getting closer.

Demyx made a little 'eep' noise and rushed up the staircase, slamming the door shut behind him. Demyx hurried over to the front desk and deposited the book there, before moving toward the front door of the library at a fast pace. Demyx exited the library and locked it after him, before he set off at a brisk walk down the sidewalk in the direction of his apartment, which was about a five minute walk. Demyx reached his apartment in record time, and got inside, making sure to lock doors as he went. Demyx hastily locked his own apartment door behind him and set the keys down on the counter, calming down slightly and feeling better now that he was home.

Demyx was relieved that his roommates were already asleep. Normally they would have probably been up lounging on the couch and watching a movie and being loud about it. He turned away from the counter, not seeing a letter laying on it addressed to him. It was from Marluxia and Larxene, announcing that they had managed to earn enough money for an apartment of their own. They had left some money to pay for several months rent, as they had left so abruptly, and had only taken their own property, leaving furniture. The note ended with thanking Demyx for renting out his apartment to them. Demyx wouldn't find the note until the morning.

Demyx went to his bedroom, really hoping that he had just been tired and had been imagining things back at the library. Demyx flopped down onto his bed and drifted to sleep, unaware of something flickering in the dark corner of the room, eying the sleeping from curiously with one eye, the other eye obscured by hair. It was the same presence that had been in the library.

121

Across town, someone else was up late at night, moving with purpose.

Leon stayed close to the shadows of the building, momentarily setting aside his current mission to observe a man with spiky blond hair and a black outfit walking along the sidewalk opposite of him. Leon's frown deepened as he eased his gunblade into its sheathe. The way the blond man walked down the street unconcernedly intrigued Leon. It was what? Two in the morning? Leon heaved a faint sigh. This guy was in his way, heading right int the direction of where his current target was. Leon ran a hand across his face, one finger grazing the scar across the bridge of his nose while he thought.

No helping it then. Leon would follow the blond man at a distance. He'd decide what to do once he could tell for sure where the blond man was going. Leon began to walk, careful to keep his footsteps silent, and to stay hidden in the shadows. At least it seemed as though the blond was oblivious to being followed. Leon knew his senses would be screaming at him to notice the potential threat. Leon hoped he would get his mission completed without having to take out an unfortunate blond should he get anywhere near the target.

121

Cloud walked down the sidewalk, closing his eyes momentarily as he enjoyed the cool night breeze and quiet night. When he opened his eyes again, Cloud kept them trained on the night before him. He was being followed, and was unsure whether to be worried or not, as he had just picked the presence up a few seconds ago. What did bother Cloud was that he didn't notice the presence sooner. It was a little disconcerting, which left Cloud wondering what he should do about the trailing presence.

Whoever it was obviously didn't want to be noticed, so there was a good chance that Cloud wouldn't even catch a glimpse of his stalker. It left Cloud curious, however, as to why someone was out so late at night. The only reason he was out late at night was because he had just gotten out of work and had stopped by a grocery store to grab a few items before heading home, which he was sharing with Sora and Roxas.

Cloud sighed, wondering why he had agreed to let two teens stay with him. He supposed it was because of Aerith's friend, Demyx, practically begging him to let the two teens stay at the house until he could get a home of his own. The apartment Demyx lived at was small and already crowded in the two bedroom apartment. Cloud had agreed, wanting to stop the other from begging(and clinging to him tearfully), but was now wondering if he should have included more rent, as Sora and Roxas ate a lot of food. Cloud frowned again. He didn't have to worry about that right now.

Cloud needed to pay attention to who was following him, as that called for his immediate attention. He could worry about his living arrangements later. Cloud pondered whether or not to take the long way home, not wanting whoever was behind him to see where he lived, just in case.

So, the question at the moment was, did he keep walking and hope the person would leave him alone, or did he want to try and confront whoever it was?

121

Leon followed the blond-haired man for five more minutes, before deducing that he was walking away from where his target was. Good. He didn't feel like killing any innocent bystanders this early in the morning. Leon backtracked a block or so to a building where his target was located. Scouting around the entire building, Leon leaned against it, staying in the shadows as he reviewed his instructions mentally. He was to enter the building undetected, take out any guards if they interfered, and take out the target.

If he failed, he was to get out as fast as possible and wait at the rendezvous until further orders arrived. That was, as long as Leon didn't die because of any mistakes. Leon snorted softly and unsheathed his gunblade. He didn't intend to make any mistakes.

Leon closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before blowing it out slowly. He was ready. Leon knew that he was already waited a long time, and if he put this off any longer, he wouldn't have another chance for quite some time. By then, his target could have found ways to make his crazy ambitions become reality. Leon had to take Xemnas out before then. Shaking his head, Leon moved quickly and silently, stealing into the building. He stayed close to the wall, senses alert as he picked his way along a memorized layout of the building.

As Leon made his way around the building, he was getting more and more suspicious that he hadn't needed to sneak past any guards. A thump and a laugh sounded from a nearby room, and Leon stilled, listening for a moment. After that, Leon was able to deduce that there were a few people in the room, apparently drunk and messing around, playing some kind of game. Poker, perhaps. Nonetheless, Leon gave the room a wide berth, making his way to a staircase. Leon's target was in the first room to the left at the top of the stairs.

Leon grasped his weapon tightly, readying it as he walked up the stairs, careful to not make any noise. At the top of the stairs, Leon swept his eyes around the landing, before training his eyes on the closed door to the left. Leon couldn't help but think that it seemed too easy. There should have been more security...

The door suddenly opened, and Leon leapt to the right, crouching against the wall in the shadows.

Nothing happened.

Leon frowned. No one had come out of the room. Was the door warped...? Leon suddenly dropped to the ground and rolled to one side, barely missing being impaled by a sharp blade. Leon got back to his feet and dodged a barrage of knives, gritting his teeth as his dodging caused him to go in front of the opened door. Leon tensed, blade up, ready to defend himself from the attackers behind him and potentially in front of him. Leon saw a shadowy figure standing just inside the room.

In the room, a silver haired man smiled humorously, orange eyes glittering in the darkness, "Well, well, what do we have here? An intruder so late? I suppose I should show you some hospitality..."

Leon tensed as he felt as he felt people preparing to attack him from behind and from in front of him. It happened quickly. Leon twisted to block an attack from more knives, but not from what he could now see was a scythe. It slashed him across the back. It hurt, but Leon ignored the pain, and trained his sight on the man who was his target. If Leon didn't take him out now, he would be unable to go after him again, now that Xemnas had seen him. Leon picked up the silver haired man finishing a sentence.

"...Kill him."

A blue-haired man stepped forward, approaching Leon, yellow eyes nearly glowing, the moonlight highlighting an X-shaped scar.

Shit. This had gone from simply a mistake to him being totally screwed over. If he survived this, Leon was going to demand a pay raise.

1212

First chapters are hard to write. Ugh. I was going to have Zexion as the librarian, but it seemed too obvious a choice, so I picked Demyx instead. I wrote this to try and get away from writer's block of other stories, and I think it's helping. I've already started typing chapters of other stories, so I'll update them along with this.


	2. Chapter 2

Next chapter and I'm glad the first one was all right.

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

-x-x-

Cloud made the decision to take the long way home. He didn't want to bring home any trouble. Cloud had realized that the presence he had sensed had long since left him alone, but kept walking the same way anyway. Cloud rolled his shoulders, stretching. He might as well play it safe. He didn't know what intentions the person that had been following him had. Cloud let his mind wander a bit as he headed down a sidewalk, the familiar path calming him down after the anxiety that came with being watched and followed.

A distant crash echoed from behind, causing Cloud to quicken his pace. Was it a robbery in progress? Some punk kid breaking windows? Cloud frowned thoughtfully as he walked briskly. Maybe...it had to do with the presence that had been following him...but what would one have to do to make such a loud sound? Cloud shook his head. He was nearly home, and the sooner he got there, the better. Though...Cloud doubted that he'd get much sleep now, not with all of his senses on high alert. The walk had done some good with calming him down, but it would take awhile longer before he could actually go to sleep.

Cloud sighed lightly as he turned a corner, before heading up a sidewalk that led to the front of his house. He had nothing to worry about. It wasn't like the presence that had followed him for awhile would affect him in any way.

-x-

Leon winced as he limped along at a slow run, cursing inwardly. He had barely managed to get out of the building with minimal injury. Leon scowled. He had messed up. His target had been ready for him. How, Leon didn't know. _'Maybe an informant...though I don't recall ever showing myself to anyone when I took the job. I made sure to keep scarce so that Xemnas wouldn't know I was going to go after him...so how did he find out?' _ Leon shook his head. What he _did_ know was that his target's follower's were chasing after him, no doubt to finish him off.

_'Dammit.'_ Leon tried to move faster, and was running blindly, not caring where he ended up as long as he could throw off his pursuers. Something came up from behind him, as well as either side, and pain flared up all over his body. Leon collapsed to the ground, waiting for someone to deliver the final blow. As he waited, Leon could almost picture Seifer, one of his acquaintances, laughing at him for making such a stupid mistake. Leon gritted his teeth against another wave of pain, and resolved to survive, if only so he could prove the smug bastard wrong. Leon was still expecting someone to put him out of his misery.

Nothing happened.

Face-down on the ground, Leon couldn't see his attackers, but he could still hear them. Maybe they were trying to kill him with words instead. Leon had heard that Xemnas enjoyed doing long speeches...maybe he passed that along to his followers to torture people with...screw that. Leon thought that he'd prefer to be tortured with electricity or something than to listen to the people standing around him talk nonchalantly about killing him. Leon wanted to tell them to hurry up, but was in too much pain to do anything other than to try and breathe. _ 'I never messed up this badly in training...'_

One voice sighed heavily in annoyance, "Damn. The cops are headed this way already."

A feminine voice spoke to the first, "Then we should kill him before they get here."

Another voice interrupted, "No, we need to leave. We cannot be seen."

"But..." The first voice protested.

The third voice countered, "No! We leave, now. Besides...with injuries like these, he won't last very much longer."

The feminine voice sighed, "I guess we are a ways away from the neighborhood."

"He could still get there," The first voice said, though they didn't sound all that convinced.

The third presence started to walk away, "He's badly wounded. He won't get very far if he can move still," A pause, "We leave, now."

There were some unhappy sighs, but Leon heard footsteps receding. After a few minutes had gone by, Leon slowly pushed himself upright. Leon let out a cough as he stumbled up to his feet. He almost wanted to laugh at how stupid his target's lackeys were. Couldn't walk, could he? Leon staggered off through the surrounding trees. Well...if he were a normal person, he wouldn't be moving but with the training he had received, Leon could keep himself going through sheer will. The adrenaline rush he had from the chase helped too. Once again, Leon didn't care where he went, so long as none of his target's followers could find him.

Exhausted, Leon hadn't even realized that he had pushed his broken body to go over a mile, to where the neighborhoods began. Leon managed to get in a few more stumbling steps, before he collapsed. As he fell, Leon didn't even feel that he had knocked a statue of some weird bird down.

It was early dawn by the feel of it. Leon figured he must have taken a long time to walk. He would have liked to get further away, but couldn't get himself back to his feet. The pain had settled into his body as a dull throb, escalating the pain whenever he tried to move. _'Great. I can't move anymore, and who knows whether Xemnas will send people out after me or not right away.'_ Leon sighed, making one last attempt to get up. He failed miserably, and, unable to stay conscious anymore, passed out alongside the knocked over statue.

-x-

Demyx woke up after a mostly restful night and sat up in bed. He held still for a moment, before glancing over to one corner of his room with a small frown. Demyx could have sworn that he had seen something flicker out of the corner of his eyes before he looked...but nothing was there except for a chair with some clothing on it. Demyx shook his head. He just woke up, he must have been seeing things.

Demyx slid out of bed and wandered around his room, throwing on some clean clothing haphazardly. Leaving his room, Demyx ate a quick breakfast, before going to the bathroom to check and fix his hair. That done, Demyx knocked on Marluxia and Larxene's bedroom door, but received no answer. Demyx wasn't surprised. Sometimes the two were out of the house before he even woke up.

Demyx was about to leave the apartment when he saw the note on the kitchen counter. Demyx scanned the note, and felt both relieved yet a little sad that he was going to be all alone in his apartment again. Sighing, Demyx tucked away the note and rent money in his room, glancing at the clock. He was running late. Demyx grabbed his keys and left the apartment room, locking it and running for the stairs. He refused to take an elevator, as one time a few years ago, he had been stuck in one for nearly 18 hours before someone managed to help him out.

Outside, Demyx headed for the library, deciding that before the rent money Marluxia and Larxene had left him ran out, he'd have to advertise that he had a room available. Demyx decided against asking if Roxas and Sora wanted to move in, as they were probably better off staying with Cloud in an actual house. Demyx would stick to his plan of buying a house and then see if they were ready to leave or not. Demyx knew Cloud would probably be happy to get them out of his house. No doubt Sora and Roxas ate a lot.

Demyx glanced up and realized that he had walked right past the library. Doubling back, Demyx unlocked the door and went inside, locking it back up. Demyx was glad that he was early, not late. It was still twenty minutes before opening. Demyx punched in and headed to the information desk, where Xaldin was showing a new, part time employee (who happened to be Roxas) how to work the computer system.

Roxas, a junior in high school, shook his blond hair out of his eyes and sighed at something Xaldin had said. Blue eyes then caught sight of Demyx walking over to them. Roxas waited until Demyx was close enough to speak, "Hey, Demyx. When are you getting that house?"

"Hello to you too," Demyx responded pleasantly, stopping next to the counter.

Roxas shook his head, "Sorry Demyx, but Cloud was 'hinting' that he was going to have us start paying for more of our food."

"Are you and Sora still eating a lot? I don't think it's unreasonable for him to ask if you guys eat as much as I remember," Demyx replied, wearing a faint smile at the annoyed look on Roxas' face.

"I suppose..."

Demyx shook his head, "Other than that, everything's fine?"

"Yeah."

Demyx turned, "I'll see you two later. Xaldin, can you open up? I have a few things to finish up from last night." Seeing Xaldin nod, Demyx started to head towards the basement. Behind him, Demyx could hear Roxas asking a question about the computer. Demyx turned his full attention to the basement door, seeing that it was closed. Good. Demyx reached for the door handle. Time to see if he had just been tired last night or if he had actually seen something. Reaching out cautiously, Demyx opened the door slowly, tensing up as though expecting something to leap out at him.

Nothing happened.

Still tensed up, Demyx exhaled slightly, offering a smile as Kairi, another part-time employee, walked by. The redhead smiled back and when she was gone, Demyx descended the basement stairs hesitantly. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Demyx opened another door and peered into the basement's interior anxiously.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary or out of place. Sunlight was streaming in through the half-window, lighting the room with a soft glow.

Demyx exhaled, wondering if he _were_ imagining things. It had been late at night after all. Demyx turned, about ready to go upstairs, when something on the floor caught his eyes. Demyx crouched down and examined the books, staring at the titles. One was about ghosts (again) focusing on hauntings, and the other book was about different types of apartments.

Demyx let out a nervous laugh, thinking it had to be a coincidence. Demyx picked the books up and after one last look around, turned to go back upstairs. He didn't notice something flit from bookcase to bookcase, appearing to watch him retreat back up the stairs. Demyx, however, seemed to have sensed it, because he paused, only up a few steps and glanced over his shoulder back into the room. Nothing was there.

"Hey Demyx!"

Demyx let out a strangled cry and fled back into the basement, whirling around, heart hammering from the suddenness of the voice. He calmed slightly when he saw that it was only Xigbar. Taking a deep breath, Demyx sighed, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Xigbar flipped his ponytail over one shoulder, left eye gleaming playfully (his right covered by a patch, and infuriated all by not saying why). Xigbar grinned at the still obviously startled Demyx, "Why did that scare you?" Receiving no response, Xigbar let the question slide and instead said, "Heard Marly and Larxene left the apartment."

Demyx glanced around quickly, before turning his attention to Xigbar, who was now lounging against the door frame, "Yeah, yesterday," Demyx frowned, "Do you think I should advertise for rent already?"

Xigbar grinned again, this time a bit mischievously, "I was actually wondering if you'd let Riku rent from you for awhile. Remember him? I told you about him. He's going to his second year of collage here in Twilight. Transferred from another school." Xigbar waved a hand, "Your place would be a pretty close place for him."

"I'll think about it," Demyx replied.

"Great! I'll bring him in to the library today. Introduce you two," Xigbar responded, turning to go back up the stairs.

"All right..." Demyx watched Xigbar leave, deciding that from what he'd heard about Riku, that he seemed like a good guy. Demyx didn't really expect to say no unless something went wrong with the meeting, which he highly doubted. Realizing that he still held onto two books, Demyx went back upstairs as well. It seemed like today would be a little more interesting. Though until Xigbar came back with Riku, Demyx was going to be contemplating what he kept finding books downstairs.

Back in the basement, a shadowed figure in a dark corner watched Demyx leave with something akin to curiosity.

-x-

An hour and a half earlier...

"Cloud! I'm going to the library for work!" Roxas yelled from the bottom of the staircase, "Sora's coming with me this time!" Roxas waited until he heard a sleepy confirmation from Cloud, before leaving the house, followed by an unhappy brunette, Sora, who didn't seem all that thrilled to go to the library.

Upstairs, Cloud lay in his bed until he heard the front door shut. Sitting up, Cloud yawned. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep. Stretching, Cloud pulled on some clothing, before casting a glance outside his bedroom window. It faced the backyard. It was nice that trees lined the yard, and that chocobo statue he had bought at a garage sale looked good in the back center of the yard.

Cloud frowned. The chocobo statue that was currently on the ground...and something was next to it that almost looked like a person...

Cloud left his room quickly and rushed down the stairs, getting outside as quickly as possible. Cloud approached the statue cautiously, even though he could tell that no one else was around, except for the man laying on the ground. Upon closer inspection, Cloud realized that the man was laying very still, and was covered in numerous wounds. Cloud knew he should call for help, but instead felt compelled to reach out and check to see if the person was still alive. Steeling himself, Cloud prepared himself for the worst...

Cloud prodded one of the man's shoulders, which drew a faint groan. Cloud nearly jumped when the man suddenly struggled to his hands and knees. Cloud held still, taking in the injured man's appearance. He had nearly shoulder length brown hair, stormy gray eyes and a scar running across the bridge of his nose from left to right. His clothing was pretty much ruined from whatever had caused the wounds. Cloud stayed still, not wanting to startle the other man. Though...something about the way the other man was eying him made Cloud uneasy. It was first a calculating look, then a faintly surprised one, then a weary look. Odd.

Leon stared up at Cloud, wondering what kind of sick joke this was. _'Why did I end up in this guy's yard of all places?'_

Cloud and Leon stared at one another for awhile, before Cloud spoke, "Do you need some help?"

Leon shook his head. _'Great. Most people would be running away from someone injured, but this guy wants to help. I might be looked for by Xemnas, so I need to get out of here.'_ "I shouldn't...linger..." Leon suddenly stood up, waving Cloud away, "I'll be fine. Leave me alone..." Though he didn't feel fine. The pain flared up again and took Leon by surprise.

Cloud was about to argue, but stopped when Leon suddenly keeled over, unconscious. "..." Cloud looked around, but saw (and sensed) that no one else was around, and the neighbors were apparently still asleep. Cloud stooped down, and, mindful of the other's injuries, managed to half pick Leon up and head toward the house with him.

-x-x-

I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Oh, and in this story, Roxas is 17, Sora and Kairi are 18, Riku is 19. Axel is more like 22 or so.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

-x-x-

Cloud managed to get Leon into his house, bringing him into the bathroom to clean him up, as he didn't think that it would be a good idea to bring Leon to the hospital. This was mostly due to the fact that Leon had had a strange blade on the ground next to him. That, and Leon wanting to leave immediately. Cloud knew he should have brought the other to the hospital, but had a feeling that Leon had a reason for trying to refuse help. Cloud treated the wounds as best he could, as he didn't have much medical experience.

Cloud left the bullet wound in Leon's left leg alone. He did, however, put pressure on the wound to keep it from bleeding more by wrapping some of the man's ruined clothing around it. Spotting some more wounds that were beyond him to deal with, Cloud wrapped bandages around them. That finished, Cloud moved Leon to his bedroom, knowing that Leon needed real treatment, and soon. Cloud didn't want any awkward questions, so perhaps calling in a doctor that made house calls with the ability to perform surgery would do. Cloud left Leon on the bed after dumping old sheets on it that he didn't care if blood got on them. He was silently marveling at the fact that he had felt nothing broken on the other man. Leaving Leon laying on the bed, Cloud went downstairs to get breakfast as he tried to figure out who he could call. Then it hit him.

Vexen.

Cloud occasionally had Vexen come to his house if Sora or Roxas had been injured. Cloud had the money after all. Shaking his head, Cloud located his cell phone on a nearby counter and dialed a number. While waiting for Vexen to pick up, Cloud wondered how he would explain the injured man in his room to Sora and Roxas when they returned home from the library.

-x-

Leon awoke abruptly, finding himself in an unfamiliar place. _'Where...am I?'_ Leon began to panic slightly. _'Wait...did I die? No! I can't have died yet. I...!' _ Leon winced when he shifted his left leg. Nope, he was still alive. Leon closed his eyes, berating himself again for being so careless. _ 'I can't believe I let myself get caught off guard. I should have known something wasn't right.'_ Since he hadn't died, Leon needed to figure out a way to stop Xemnas. _'I can't try a direct confrontation for at least a few months...he'll have moved by now, on the off chance that I survived...'_

Leon's thought process halted as he opened his eyes again and watched Cloud enter the room. Leon realized that he was resting on a bed, from the feel of it...presumably the blond's bed, meaning that Leon was in his house. Leon then realized that some of the more minor wounds had been taken care of, while the more serious injuries had been bandaged tightly to keep pressure on them and prevent them from bleeding further. Those wounds needed to be treated by a professional, but Leon couldn't take the risk of being seen by his enemies if he were to go to a hospital. No doubt Xemnas was having it watched, just in case a good samaritan decided to take him there. It seemed like the good samaritan that helped him knew there might be some reason that he didn't want to go to a hospital.

Cloud stared at Leon for a few moments, before he decided to break the silence, "I called for a doctor to come here and take a look at your wounds. If there's a reason why you're avoiding a hospital, then I figured a private doctor that makes house calls should be all right. He won't tell anyone he saw you."

Leon gave Cloud a somewhat alarmed look, before trying to get out of bed, "I'm_ fine_."

Cloud moved forward and pushed Leon back down, "Just let him treat your injuries. I doubt you'd get very far with those injuries. When you're recovered, you can go wherever you want." Cloud place some medicine on the nightstand, along with a glass of water, before turning and leaving the room.

Leon sat up, silent, as he stared at the medicine. After feeling the pain start to flare up again, Leon decided to take a pill to alleviate the sharp pain. Leon held a pill and picked up the glass of water. Since Cloud didn't know anything about what he did for a living, the water was safe to drink. There was no way it would be poisoned, especially after Cloud went through all the trouble of helping him.

Just outside the room, Cloud was trying to figure out why he was helping Leon. He was sure there had to be some reason that he was doing this. He just had to think of it. At the moment, Cloud decided to focus how to get some answers from Leon, or at least get him to talk to him. Cloud was wondering how he ended up in his injured state, and why Leon had looked at him the way he did when they were outside. It was as if Leon had seen him before. Cloud frowned to himself, trying to recall if he had ever seen Leon before.

Then it clicked. Why Cloud was helping Leon. It was because somehow, Cloud realized that Leon had been the presence from earlier, trailing after him. Cloud didn't know why he thought it was Leon, but he felt that, with the way Leon had looked surprised to see him, made Cloud think he was right. It did seem like Leon was trying to hide something...Cloud decided to go back into his room and try and get Leon to talk to him. Vexen wouldn't get to the house for at least another twenty, twenty five minutes. Cloud hesitated for a moment, before entering the room, where he found Leon sitting up in bed, staring out the window.

Leon turned his attention briefly to Cloud as he entered the room. After a long silence, Leon went back to looking out the window, "...What's that weird statue for?"

Cloud bristled slightly in defense of his precious statue, "It's a chocobo. I have a few of them on a ranch a few hours outside town."

"..." Leon glanced back at Cloud and fixed his eyes on him, "What do you want?"

Cloud ignored the question and instead asked his own, "What kind of sword is that? What do you use it for?" Cloud indicated the blade where it was propped up against the bathroom door in his room.

"A gunblade." Leon refused to say any more, and watched as Cloud wordlessly went over to his closet and took out a huge sword.

Leon gave it and Cloud a doubtful look, "Can you even lift that thing?" He fell silent as Cloud hefted it into the air one handed and gave it an experimental swing, before returning it to the closet. "..." Leon frowned. _'What was that about?'_ Aloud, he asked, "What do you need that for?"

Cloud merely shrugged.

"..."

"What's your name?"

Leon studied Cloud for a moment, before speaking "Leon." He was taken aback when Cloud said his own name, and was nearly shocked with what Cloud said next.

"I don't like to be followed late at night."

Leon was puzzled, "How did you know I was there?" Leon was confident in his ability to mask his presence, so how had Cloud...?

"I...used to be a mercenary. I decided that I didn't want to do it anymore," Cloud studied Leon again, "What about you?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Leon stated, utterly serious.

Cloud frowned, wondering what kind of job Leon did that he couldn't reveal it. Other than a mercenary or something military, what other job would have a sword? Cloud didn't think either of the jobs would have someone threatening death if they revealed what they did, "The doctor should be here soon," Cloud commented, checking the time.

Leon immediately tired to get out of bed again, but Cloud stopped him. "Let go." Leon growled, trying to get Cloud to let go of him, but the other refused to move.

"You need those injuries treated, or you'll just fall down somewhere and bleed to death..."

"I'll be fine."

"...and if that doesn't kill you, you could still end up fainting somewhere and leaving yourself vulnerable."

"Let go!"

Cloud let out a grunt as Leon tugged him onto the bed and pinned him, but it was short lived as Cloud merely flipped the other man over. A short wrestling match occurred soon after, Cloud trying to keep Leon on the bed without aggravating his wounds, and Leon trying to get Cloud to leave him alone so that he could make his escape. Leon tired due to his injuries, and found himself pinned to the bed on his back, straddled by Cloud, who was panting lightly.

"Are you...done?"

Leon gave a faint sigh of annoyance before growling something about how Cloud didn't have to try and help him.

A cough came from the doorway, causing both Cloud and Leon to look over at a man with dirty blond hair standing there.

Vexen shook his head upon being noticed, "Cloud, put a hold on the foreplay so I can treat him."

Cloud became aware of straddling Leon and colored faintly as he got up quickly, looking anywhere but Leon.

Leon was confused yet annoyed that the man that had just entered the room was misinterpreting things.

Vexen totally disregarded any embarrassment (or irritation) that his statement may have made, and instead came closer to the bed to take a look at Leon's wounds. Over an hour later, Vexen finished. He glared haughtily at Leon, "Don't move too much for at least a few days, and don't do anything strenuous for at least half a year," Vexen paused, glaring at the brown haired man, who had made a disbelieving sound at the amount of time. Vexen turned to Cloud, "You'll need to change the dressings often, for at least a week. I'll come back at the end of the week to make sure everything is healing properly. Call before that if you need to."

Cloud thanked Vexen and watched him leave. There was an awkward silence, before Cloud spoke, "You should get some rest, Leon."

Leon was unhappy at the prospect of staying in a stranger's home for so long, but didn't argue, instead settling back onto the bed in an attempt to rest.

Cloud left the room to let him sleep, making his way downstairs. Cloud lay down on the couch in the living room, deciding that he should get a couple hours more rest before Roxas and Sora came back home. He'd probably need the sleep.

-x-

Roxas liked to work at the library, before _he_ showed up. That annoying red-head with spiked hair, who had what looked like upside-down triangles or teardrop tattoos beneath his eyes. Roxas didn't like the way the red-head's green eyes danced with amusement whenever he did something to annoy him. That, and the tight clothing he wore, black shirt unbuttoned enough to show off a bit of his bare chest. The reason Roxas didn't like the red-head the most was because of the way the other shamelessly flirted with him.

Roxas had had a few days of not seeing him, until today, when he had gone to work and brought Sora along with him. Currently, Roxas was shelving some books in the fiction section, and saw some red hair in the next aisle over. Roxas kept shelving, pointedly ignoring the red-head, who was trying to catch his attention, grinning over a row of books.

"Why are you ignoring me, Roxas?"

Roxas froze, then looked up at the red-head in surprise, then suspicion, "How did you know my name?"

The red-head grinned again, "Sora told me." He neglected to say that he had heard Sora complaining to Xaldin about how 'Roxas' made him go to the library, Xaldin countering that 'Sora' should find something to read because it would be good for him. Before Roxas could say anything, the red head added, "The name's Axel."

Roxas went back to shelving, "I need to get back to work, Axel."

Axel appeared to leave, before he was suddenly standing next to Roxas, "Why are you avoiding me, Roxy?"

"Don't call me that."

"Well?"

Roxas cast an irritated glare at Axel, before walking away, wondering if he could figure out how to keep Axel away from him.

Axel watched Roxas walk away, amused. This was going to be fun. Axel started after Roxas, catching up with the disgruntled blond, "Oh Roxy, playing hard to get?"

Roxas wore a long suffering expression. Not the flirting again. Why was this guy only bothering him? What did he do to deserve this?

Axel grinned at the look thrown his way, "Ouch Roxas. No need to look so angry. Hey, where are you going?"

Roxas ignored the flirtatious comments that followed him and wondered what the odds were that he would be able to leave work early. He'd work an extra shift another day if it would get him away from Axel.

-x-x-

I'll get the next chapter up soon. As for Cloud's job, it doesn't impact the story, so I left it open as to what he does to make enough money that he can afford a private doctor.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

-x-x-

Demyx was still waiting for Xigbar to return to the library with Riku, so Demyx, after getting distracted from shelving books, decided to head back into the library's basement. He wanted to check it out again, thinking he had to have been imagining things. There had to be some logical explanation for why he kept finding books on the ground. Demyx reached the bottom of the stairs and glanced around, seeing nothing out of place. _'Good.' _He must have just missed whoever had been bringing the books down. That was probably it. It seemed fairly logical to him, some kid leaving stuff in the wrong place as a joke...

A hand dropped onto Demyx's shoulder, who, in turn, let out a shriek, leaping forward and turning around, to see Xigbar standing there, grinning in amusement, a silver-haired male just behind him, frowning at the reaction. Demyx laughed nervously, "D...don't sneak up on me like that! It's the second time today!" Demyx calmed himself, then turned his attention to the teen, "Hi, you must be Riku."

Riku nodded in response, still staring at Demyx. It seemed as though the young man was trying to figure out what to think of a grown man shrieking so high pitched, and then immediately being cheerful again. Riku shook his head. Actually, he didn't want to try and fathom it.

Demyx apparently missed the look and instead spoke up again, "Well, I'm Demyx. Xigbar said you were looking for somewhere to rent for college?"

Riku nodded again, "Yeah, the places I've tired are already full, and the closest place I found was miles away...and I don't have a car."

"You could always walk," Xigbar commented, smirking when Riku threw him an irritated look. Xigbar held his hands up in mock surrender, "Yeah,yeah, I know why you don't want to have to walk so far out in the open like that. Though it should be fine if people are around..." He fell silent at a warning glare.

Demyx glanced between the two, "What do you mean?"

Riku shook his head, "...It's nothing, I can tell you about it later if you really want to know."

"All right," Demyx responded, curious but not wanting to pry, "You can pay the rent then?"

"I have a part time job, I should be able to handle it," Riku said in answer.

"Okay, then if you want to you can rent from me. It's open, so you can come over whenever you want."

Riku blinked in surprise, "Really...but, I hadn't planned on renting for a few months..."

Demyx waved him off, "Don't worry about it. My last renters left a couple of months rent behind. It'd probably be better if you move in sooner. You can get to know the area before classes start."

Riku looked surprised still, so Xigbar clapped him on the shoulder in an attempt to snap him out of it, "Told ya Demyx is nice. C'mon, I'll go help you pick up your things." Leaving the silent silver haired male alone, Xigbar turned to Demyx, " You come in later to work, right? How does tomorrow morning sound? "

"That'll be fine." Demyx replied, and watched Xigbar leave.

Riku looked as if he wanted to say something, before merely shaking his head and offering a very small smile, "Thanks...I guess we'll get there in the morning sometime." He followed Xigbar up the stairs, leaving Demyx alone again.

Demyx shook his head, amused that Xigbar hadn't given Riku much of a choice. Demyx turned out half the basement lights, and was about to head back upstairs when he heard the audible 'thump' of a book falling down. Against his better judgment, Demyx walked cautiously in the direction the sound had come from, and crouched down near the window to retrieve a book. Another ghost one. About hauntings. As Demyx frowned down at the book, he felt the hairs on his neck stand up. It made him feel uncomfortable, as a chill went down his spine.

Feeling very uneasy, Demyx was ready to bolt back upstairs, when he noticed that someone lounging in a chair in the corner of the room. They were reading a book that was on the table next to the chair. Demyx saw that the person was similar in age to him, with slate blue hair that was messy and covering his right eye. Demyx was too far away to make out the visible eye's color. Demyx rose out of his crouch and noticed that the outfit the other was wearing was fitted, looking like a suit, with a scarf looped loosely around his neck. Demyx stiffened when he realized that the book the other make was reading was turning pages, on its own. Demyx figured the library would be closing in around ten minutes, and it looked like the other wasn't planning on leaving any time soon.

"Er...excuse me? The library is going to be closing soon...are you the one leaving the books down here this past week?"

"Demyx, are you down there?" Xaldin called from the top of the stairs.

Demyx turned his head to yell his response, "Yes, I'll be up in a moment!" Demyx turned his attention back to the chair, and was surprised to find no one sitting there anymore. The book, however, was, and it was laying open. Demyx approached the table, glancing down rows of books as he did. He saw no one there. Not even the sound of someone walking. Demyx swallowed nervously and fought back the urge to scream when he thought that the reason the person disappeared so quickly was because they had been a ghost. Demyx shook his head. No, he couldn't think that. They weren't real. If he thought they were, he wouldn't be able to be down here at night again.

Demyx bit his lip. Now that he thought about it, had the person sitting there been...see through? Demyx could have sworn he saw the chair though the man. Demyx shook his head again. _'No, stop thinking about it, or you'll never get to sleep tonight.' _Demyx instead glanced down at the book, and it didn't make him feel any better. On the left page, one of the words had been underlined.

Hello.

Demyx paled, leaving that book on the table, before retreating back up the stairs with the other book he held. Demyx found Xaldin waiting there for him, and Demyx felt very relieved, "Xaldin, can you close up today?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." Demyx said brightly, handing the book he was holding over to the other man. Demyx was about to leave, when he stopped short and asked, "Xaldin? Did anyone come up the stairs just before me?"

Xaldin frowned, "No...though Sora and Riku were down there earlier. Something happened with the window blinds and lights. According to Sora, the blinds closed and the lights went out on their own."

"Really? Riku and Xigbar must have been looking for me earlier today. I'll ask Riku about that tomorrow. He's going to rent from me for awhile...well, good-night." Demyx babbled, and then quickly left. _'I must have been imagining things, but then how would I explain things turning off on Sora downstairs? Or the blinds closing on their own?'_ Demyx got back to his apartment, trying not to think about what he had seen and heard about at the library, instead getting ready for bed and reminding himself that Riku and Xigbar were coming over there in the morning. Was it sleep deprivation that was making him see things? He hadn't been getting much sleep lately...but how would that explain what he had seen sitting in the chair, along with the underlined word? Maybe it _was _an elaborate prank.

Demyx sighed and turned over in bed, glancing at his open bedroom door. And froze. Blinking, Demyx stared out the door into the dark. He could have sworn he had just seen the outline of a person standing there, watching him. Now he could only see shadows reflected from a nightlight in the hall. Demyx yawned sleepily and closed his eyes. He needed sleep. Maybe things would make more sense in the morning.

-x-

A few hours earlier...

Cloud had fallen asleep on the couch, but woke abruptly when the front door slammed open.

Roxas entered the house, shutting the door behind him with a scowl on his face. He spotted Cloud on the couch, staring at him in sleepy surprise. Still fuming, Roxas stalked over to the couch, "Cloud, some guy with red hair called Axel won't leave me alone at the library. I can't get any work done!"

Cloud frowned at this, wondering what kind of person Axel was that he was able to anger Roxas so easily. Then, he noticed something, "Roxas? Wheres Sora?"

"Dammit! Stupid Axel," Roxas sighed in irritation, "Sora's still at the library. He probably doesn't even know I left."

Cloud shook his head, "I suppose I can go pick him up, though maybe if we leave him there for awhile he'll actually read something..."

Roxas smirked at this as he went into the kitchen and looked outside, "...Cloud, why's that chocobo statue knocked over?"

Cloud shrugged indifferently, "I'm not sure. I'll get it back up sometime."

Roxas gave a shrug as well, grabbing a snack, "I'm going to go to my room. I don't want to go back to the library and be stalked again."

Cloud watched Roxas pass by him again and go up the stairs, before momentarily forgetting about Sora. Cloud had forgotten to tell Leon about Sora and Roxas living in the house with him.

-x-

In Cloud's bedroom, Leon could hear someone coming up the stairs, but knew that it wasn't Cloud. The footsteps, however, were too loud for it to be an intruder._ 'Does Cloud have other people living here with him? I guess the house is probably big, since he has money for private doctors...'_ Leon eased himself up into a seated position, about to try and get out of bed when Cloud suddenly entered the room. Leon settled back in bed, "Do other people live here?"

"Yes. Two teens of a friend of mine that wanted them to have a place to live while he's trying to get a house of his own." Cloud declined complaining about how much Sora and Roxas ate, as he didn't think Leon would be in the mood to hear something like that.

"..." Leon was silent for a moment. _'Should I tell him about Xemnas? No, but maybe I should tell him that he and the people who live with him could be in danger if I'm found here. I don't think Xemnas would care about attacking innocent people to make sure no one could stop him.' _Leon sighed. _'Xemnas could either think that I'm dead, or he'll send out his people when he feels the need. To show that no one can stop him from achieving his goals.'_

Cloud was somewhat concerned with Leon's silence, as well as the serious look on the other's face, but didn't say anything. Cloud still didn't remember that he was suppose to go get Sora from the library. He was more preoccupied with his mysterious house guest, and trying to figure out what was going through his mind.

-x-x-

Go the chapter up sooner than I thought. Thanks to Rixah and Santora for the reviews. I'm working on typing the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

-x-x-

Sora hadn't realized that Roxas had left the library in a huff of annoyance. He also didn't notice Axel watch Roxas leave wearing both an amused yet somewhat disappointed expression. Sora sighed, turning to walk down an aisle of books, as Axel went by him, thinking up strategies to get Roxas to not immediately leave the vicinity. The redhead wore a smirk as he headed further into the library. Sora, oblivious to plots about his own brother, wandered aimlessly around, staring at the books with a depressed look.

Sighing lightly, Sora exited the aisle of books, wondering what he should do while he waited for Roxas to finish work, before stopping. The door to the basement was open. _'I wonder...is there anything good down there?'_ Sora headed down the stairs into the basement, and paused at the bottom of the stairs, frowning in disappointment. More books, but these were much older looking ones. Sora glanced around some more as he walked over toward the window. _'Half underground.' _ Creepy. Sora moved closer to the window, before letting out a startled cry as the door slammed shut behind him of its own accord.

Sora approached the door. _ 'Why did it shut?' _ Was it warped or something? That could be possible if it was as old as the books down in the basement. Sora tugged at the door handle futilely. It wouldn't budge. "Eh-heh," Sora laughed nervously, as he let go of the handle. He looked around the basement again, to see if there was another way out. Sora spotted some bookcases to the right and walked down the aisle, thinking that if the door got stuck, someone must have made another exit, just in case. Someone just forgot to mention it.

The lights went out abruptly, and the window blinds snapped shut, plunging the basement into darkness.

Sora froze, as he was unable to see anything. He could, however, still feel, and it felt as though someone had walked up to him and was now standing behind him. Sora discreetly moved in the opposite direction, not happy in the least that he couldn't see anything. Sora felt a twinge of panic and moved a little more quickly, since it seemed whatever he thought was behind him was following him. He bumped into something solid and let out a small shriek, at the same time the lights came back on and window blinds reopened.

Sora backed away, glancing over one shoulder to see what was there. Nothing...but he could have sworn someone had been there, right behind him. Shaking his head a little, Sora turned his attention to what he had bumped into. A silver-haired male who looked a little annoyed. Probably because he had shrieked so close by. Sora colored a little in embarrassment. He didn't want anyone to know that he had made such an unmanly cry.

Riku stared at Sora curiously. It appeared as though the other were embarrassed about being caught screaming in such a way, but, "What are you doing down here without the lights on?"

"I didn't do it! I was minding my own business and it suddenly went dark! I thought someone was following me from behind. It felt kind of cold, but I guess it is a basement." Sora responded, feeling a bit better now that the lights were back on.

Riku was about to say something when Xigbar came down the stairs, "Hey Riku, I found Demyx. Come on, before he disappears into the vastness of the library." Riku cast Xigbar an irked glare.

"You know Demyx?" Sora asked the two.

"Yeah, he's a friend. Riku is going to see if he can rent cause Marly and Larxene left." Xigbar replied.

Sora spotted Riku's confused look, and said, "Demyx is my older brother. Roxas' too." Sora paused when Xigbar laughed, "What?"

"Oh, it's just..." Xigbar snickered, "Roxas seems to have gone home for the day. Saw him get annoyed by a red head and he didn't want to deal with it. Left as quickly as he could."

"He left without me?" Sora said, "...but, we were supposed to go home together, not alone." Nothing upset Roxas, so who could have gotten him so mad that he left without him?

Xigbar clapped Riku on the shoulder, throwing him off balance, "Hey Riku, take him home. Say hi to Roxas. I'll go corner Demyx so that he doesn't run off."

"But I..." Riku started to protest. Really, why did Sora need to have someone take him home? He looked old enough to do that by himself.

"Would you?" Sora wondered, looking at Riku curiously. For some reason Sora didn't feel all that concerned about letting a potential stranger near his house as long as there was some connection to Demyx.

Riku heaved an inward sigh. Why was he doing this, "...Fine, let's go."

Sora grinned, all traces of worry gone, "Cool. Do you have a car?"

Riku offered a faint smirk, "No, I don't. We'll walk." _'Though I really don't want to...but as long as it isn't that far away, it should be fine. There's no way he could have tracked me all the way here yet. I left enough false paths that it should take him quite some time before he finds the right trail. Enough time for a year of college at least.'_

Sora groaned at the thought of walking all the way home again, but decided he could complain to Cloud about Roxas leaving him all alone. Sora walked up the stairs, followed by Xigbar and Riku. The three of them parted ways, Xigbar to go look for Demyx, and Riku and Sora leaving the library. Outside, the two passed Axel, who was busily arguing with someone over the phone, and they lingered to listen in.

"Look, I told you I was busy that night." Axel listened to the person on the other end, then sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I'll go and try to get something useful to tell you next time." Axel hung up and stowed the cell phone away, before he caught sight of Riku and Sora. He grinned at the sight of the brunette, "Hey, I saw you in the library. You related to Roxas?"

"Roxas is my brother," Sora responded, staring at Axel for a moment, before he pointed an accusing finger at him, "Hey, you're the red head that was bothering him. You made Roxas go and leave me all alone!"

Axel raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Riku with a look that said 'is this guy serious?'

Riku returned the glance with a shrug. He wasn't even going to try and fathom the reason why Sora was acting the way he was.

Axel sighed and turned to answer Sora, "Hey, he overreacted. I was just trying to talk to him and he didn't want to."

"Oh." Sora frowned, then, "Well, Roxas does get angry if he's bothered while working..."

Axel's cell rang again, and he quickly excused himself before Sora could ask anything else.

Riku watched Axel for a moment, before following after Sora, who had begun to walk away. Sora and Riku walked along the sidewalk in silence after that, each with his own thoughts.

Sora thought that Riku seemed to be nice, and thought that he would be a better roommate for Demyx than Marluxia and Larxene were. He had heard Demyx complain about them a few times when they had met up for a group lunch.

Riku, meanwhile, was wondering again why Sora couldn't walk home on his own. Even the red head thought it was odd. Riku was also wondering why Sora had to make so many cute expressions that should have been illegal on a male.

After nearly a thirty minute walk, Sora finally turned and hurried up a sidewalk to a house. Behind him, Riku breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it hadn't been too bad a walk, even if it had been unbearably quiet. It left him with too many of his own thoughts, some unpleasant. Like the one about the man who kept following him, intent on killing him for some unknown reason.

"Riku! Over here!"

Riku shook the troubling thought away and went over to where Sora was standing in front of the door.

Once Riku was close enough, Sora knocked on the door, "I don't have the house keys. Roxas does," Sora informed Riku.

Riku figured as much, but watched the front door open to reveal on older blond.

Cloud sighed, "I was about to go pick you up."

Sora smiled, "Well, that would have been better than walking."

Cloud glanced over at Riku, who was standing there looking uncertain, before turning his attention back to Sora.

Sora grinned cheerfully at the man's expression, "I asked him if he'd go with me. "

Riku, seeing that Cloud still looked suspicious, stepped forward, "My name's Riku. I'm going back to the library to talk to Demyx, to see if I can rent from him."

Cloud relaxed visibly, nodding, "I heard that Marluxia and Larxene had moved out."

Sora smiled, "Demyx said he was glad they left. I heard that they kept knives and a scythe in their room," Sora glanced at Cloud, "Wouldn't that be illegal?" Seeing Cloud shrug, Sora added, "Than again, you have that big sword, so maybe not." Before Cloud could say anything, Sora turned to Riku, "Bye! Thanks for going with me! See you later." Turning, Soar raced into the house past Cloud, and up the stairs to go pester Roxas about leaving him alone at the library.

Something dropped against the floor upstairs, but Cloud thought that it was probably Roxas or Sora (Cloud wouldn't put it past the brunette to tackle his brother upon sight). Shaking his head, Cloud turned back to Riku, who looked surprised at Sora's abrupt departure, "He does that. You get used to it. You said you were going to go back to the library to talk to Demyx?"

"Yes, I am." Riku said, taking that as his cue to leave.

Cloud watched him leave, before he closed the door and went upstairs. As Cloud headed to his room, he heard Roxas and Sora talking to one another. Cloud frowned lightly. It didn't sound like arguing, which meant they weren't roughhousing. Cloud opened his bedroom door, where he paused in the door frame, somewhat surprised to see Leon standing there, leaning heavily on his gunblade, in an attempt to stay standing. Cloud quickly shut the door and barred the other's way, silently hoping that Sora and Roxas wouldn't hear them talking.

Cloud standing in the way of his exit bothered Leon. Trying to stand more without the help of his blade, he spoke, "Where are they?"

Cloud blinked, perplexed, "Who? "

Leon shook his head. _ 'Damn, my legs are going to give out again.'_ "Marluxia and Larxene."

Cloud looked even more surprised, "You know them?"

_'No, but I think they work for Xemnas. Not that I can tell you that.' _ Leon frowned a little, then, deciding he could tell Cloud a little info, said, "I was attacked by some people...two of them used knives and some curved weapon, either a sword or a scythe."

Cloud stared at Leon, "How did that happen?"

"...Where are they? Or where's the person who lived with them? Demyx was it?" Leon insisted. _'If I could talk to their roommate, maybe I can find out something useful.'_

"You were listening to that conversation?"

"..." Leon lost his grip on the gunblade and keeled over after stepping forward and pulling something in his back. _'Probably from where that blade got me. I really should get of here.'_

Cloud caught Leon before he fell too far, and commented dryly, "You know, most people wait until they're more fully healed before trying something like that."

"What are you, my mom?" Leon mumbled something else, this time intelligibly. The sudden pain accompanying his trying to leave the room caused him to fall unconscious soon after.

Cloud managed to get Leon back onto the bed, before he turned and considered the gunblade laying on the ground. He needed to keep Leon away from it until he had recovered enough. Picking up the blade, Cloud hid it in his closet where he kept his Buster sword. "..." He knew that Demyx didn't know what Marluxia and Larxene did for a living. He didn't either, for that matter. They must be getting a decent amount of money to be able to get a place of their own. Cloud paced the room. If what Leon said was true, that Marluxia and Larxene, along with some others, had attacked him, but why? What was the reason?

The next day...

Demyx woke up early, remembering that he had said that it was fine for Riku and Xigbar to bring the silver haired male's belongings to the apartment. A knock on the front door of his apartment made Demyx quickly throw on some clothing in an attempt to look somewhat decent. Demyx finished in record time and ran to open the door, backing away after he opened it. "Hi," Demyx said brightly to Riku and Xigbar, as the two of them came in with a few boxes.

"Lead the way, Dem," Xigbar said, shifting his hold on one of the boxes he held.

"Sure! this way!" Demyx led the two to the empty room, and opened the door. Seeing Riku frown at the lack of bed, Demyx apologized, "Marluxia and Larxene took the bed, though that's probably a good thing, since from the sound of it they probably destroyed it." Xigbar laughed while Riku made a face, suddenly quite fine about lacking a bed. He could always find an air mattress or something.

"You could just sleep on the couch in the meantime, if you don't mind." Demyx offered.

Riku grudgingly agreed, "That's fine." Then, he brought the boxes he was carrying into the room, followed by Xigbar. It only took ten minutes to bring Riku's belongings in, before Xigbar excused himself and Riku collapsed onto the couch.

Demyx frowned in confusion as he grabbed his keys, "What are you doing?"

"Sleeping." Came the muffled response, "Up too late."

"Well...I'm going to go out and run some errands.. I'll be back in the evening."

"Nnn." Was the eloquent response.

Demyx smiled in amusement before heading out of the apartment. The errands were mindless, which made Demyx think too much about the library, about lights going out and window blinds closing themselves. Demyx tried to ignore it until after parking his car in the parking bay, when he gave up and decided to walk over to the library. Though he had mostly gone there to distract himself from the fact that something odd had happened on one of his errands. He could have sworn he had seen someone or several someone's, following him when he headed back to his car with groceries. Demyx had veered around aimlessly until he got back to the store, feeling uneasy about what had just occurred.

Demyx shook the thought away, and decided to focus on another problem he had at the moment. Demyx went into the library and went directly to the basement. To Demyx's surprise, nothing happened when he was down there. Demyx quickly said that he'd be at work the next day to a confused Xaldin, before leaving the library and heading home again.

-x-x-

I'm working on typing the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm actually quite happy with how this chapter turned out. I guess taking a little longer on a chapter helps a bit to make it better.

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

-x-x-

After Demyx had calmed down sufficiently, he fell asleep in his room, with Riku snoring softly on the couch in the living room of the apartment. Demyx got a few hours of rest, before he abruptly awoke in the middle of the night. Demyx sat up with a yawn, wondering why he had woken up, and sleepily looked around his room as if that would provide him with an answer. Demyx was about to lie back down when he suddenly froze, spotting something standing in his doorway. The same as the other night, but this time Demyx was awake enough to make out the form in the semi darkness of the room (he had forgotten to unplug the nightlight in the corner of the room). Demyx tensed up even more as he realized that the figure standing in the doorway resembled the person that he had seen in the library basement.

The figure moved a bit and Demyx fell out of bed with a yelp, surprised at he sudden movement. He scrambled backwards, up against the side of his bed, as the figure came a little closer, to be in contact with the glow of the nightlight. The man stared down at Demyx with something akin to amusement, before shaking the hair out of his left eye and saying, "My name is Zexion." With a fainest curl of his lip at Demyx giving him a petrified look and stutters of an attempt to speak, the man, Zexion, turned and walked across the room.

Right through the wall.

At first, Demyx had thought that the other male, Zexion, Demyx supposed was his name, had broken into his apartment. Demyx wasn't sure what to do about that, and would have managed to ask a question, if Zexion hadn't walked through the wall like that. Demyx's breath caught in his throat. Walked...through the wall. A solid wall. No marks on the wall. Not a trick. Walked through a very, very solid wall, on the third floor. Demyx stared at the wall for several long moments before it clicked in his mind and he accepted what he had just seen for what it was.

A ghost. A real one. In his apartment, in his room. And it had just talked to him. The ghost...

"Waahhh!"

Demyx got to his feet and threw himself out of his room at breakneck speed, unable to do anything rational at the moment save scream. In hindsight, he shouldn't have been surprised that the cops showed up to his door minutes later. Demyx's wild frenzied run and scream were cut short when he ran directly into a solid object, and he was thrown backwards onto the ground by the impact. Demyx shook his head woozily, glancing up and seeing that it had been Riku he ran into, and that the silver-haired male was siting on the ground similarly, giving him an utterly perplexed expression.

Riku stared at Demyx for a moment, and, after deeming that Demyx had calmed down a bit, asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Demyx stared at Riku with his mouth open, before he shut it and shook his head. Demyx laughed nervously, "You...you wouldn't believe me even if I told you. You'll just laugh at me."

Riku, unhappy that his slumber had been interrupted, crossed his arms and considered Demyx curiously before saying, "Try me."

Demyx swallowed nervously as he spoke, trying to keep the stutters out of his voice, "There...there was this guy standing in t-the door frame. I was awake a-and saw it. I thought I was imagining things, but he came closer, and I-I saw that he looked like the person I had seen in the library. H-He told me his name was Zexion, and then, he...he walked right through the wall. A wall!" Demyx took a breath and continued, as Riku hadn't made a move to interrupt him, "I had seen something in the hall before, but at the time thought I was imagining things. Before that, I've been finding books about ghosts in the library basement, and a few days ago, one book was open and had hello underlined. Tonight was the first time I had actually seen a solid figure, in the apartment. Before I saw him in the library sitting in a chair. I had thought he was just another patron..." Demyx drifted off, watching Riku apprehensively, as if expecting the college student to laugh at him and call him crazy. Before Riku could speak, Demyx said, "I'm not crazy."

"I never said you were."

"I'm not!"

"Demyx."

Demyx fell silent again.

Riku sighed, "I don't think you're crazy. There could be a logical explanation."

"For someone walking through a _solid wall_?"

"I'm still thinking about that one, but for the rest of it, you could check into it. When did this all start happening?"

Demyx thought about it for a moment, before replying, "A little over a week, which is why it's creeping me out. I've never experienced anything paranormal before."

"Has anything else happened other than what you told me?"

Demyx shook his head, "Not that I can think of."

Riku glanced over at a nearby clock that read 3:37 AM. "Let's get some sleep and talk about this tomorrow sometime when we're both more awake, and I've had some time to think about it."

"R-Right," Demyx agreed, but instead of going back to his room, he went and all but collapsed on the couch.

Riku frowned at Demyx's prone form, "Why don't you go to your own room?"

"If you want to sleep in a haunted room, be my guest," Was the muffled reply.

Riku shook his head and walked to Demyx's room, "I'm not going to sleep on the floor. I already had to do that at Xigbar's house."

Demyx snuggled more comfortably on the couch, not minding if Riku used his room. He probably wouldn't go back in there until he figured out what was going on. It seemed almost as if Zexion had decided to follow him around or something.

A knock sounded on the door, with a voice saying something along the lines of 'this is the police.'

Riku and Demyx exchanged looks, before Riku crossed his arms again and said, "You get it."

Demyx got up off the couch with a shake of his head for overreacting...well, not really. What else were you supposed to do when something walked through a solid wall? Demyx answered the door, apologizing repeatedly to the officer outside the door and attributing the scream to a nightmare that he had had that when he had woken up he thought it was still real. The officer took the story quite easily, and told Demyx that he might want to de-stress, because he himself sometimes had dreams like that for lack of sleep. The conversation went on for a little while longer, before the officer left and Demyx locked the door again.

Seeing that Riku had already gone back to bed, Demyx turned out the kitchen light and went over to the couch and collapsed on it once again, drifting off almost immediately. Demyx was unaware of a faint flicker across the couch.

Zexion appeared to be sitting on a chair near the couch, and watched Demyx sleep fitfully for a few minutes. Zexion then turned his head and stared off to the side with a melancholy expression on his face.

-x

The next morning, Demyx awoke, momentarily disoriented form laying on the couch. The night's event's caught up to him and Demyx got up off the couch, thinking he needed to get out of the apartment and get some fresh air. Demyx paused next to the fridge, where a note was held onto by a magnet. Demyx picked the note off and scanned it. It was from Riku.

_Demyx_

_I've gone to go check out the campus. I'll think about what we were talking about last night and come back and talk to you about it._

_For now, try and find out more about the person you saw. Maybe the books that you found will offer some clues._

_They must have been left there for a reason, right? We can talk about it when we both get back to the apartment._

_-Riku_

_P.S. You really should go grocery shopping more often. Before you brought stuff back yesterday, there was barely anything here._

Demyx smiled a bit at the P.S. as he tucked the note away. After braving going in his room to get a change of clothing, Demyx headed out of the apartment and down the sidewalk to the library. It was another of his days off, so he might as well get to the bottom of the mysterious books laying on the ground, and why Zexion was showing up more frequently before him.

-x

Inside the library, Demyx avoided Xaldin and Roxas arguing over a cart of books, and, after locating the books that he had found in the basement, picked them up and made his way toward the basement of the library. Demyx reached the bottom of the staircase and peered around the quiet room, as though expecting something to leap out from behind a bookcase and either scare him or murder him. Of course, nothing happened, and Demyx relaxed ever so slightly. He was being silly, and whatever he had seen the night before must have been a product of his imagination. After all, he had been a little paranoid about the car seemingly waiting fro him outside the grocery store. It was perfectly logical to think that he had been having trouble sleeping because of that.

Demyx walked further into the basement, over to the chair where he had seen Zexion sitting in it a few days ago. The book that had been on the table next to the chair was still open, and Demyx approached it hesitantly as though it were going to bite him. Demyx got closer to the book, and realized that it was open to a different page. Demyx leaned over it and saw that more words had been underlined. Ordinarily it should have annoyed him to see marks in a book, but with thinking about how it could have appeared there and words been specifically underlined, made Demyx forget to be irked. Demyx stare at the words. 'Good morning.' Demyx veered away and dropped the stack of books he held onto another table.

With a sigh, Demyx pulled the chair away from the table and sat down, to stare blankly at the books that he had just set down onto the table. Demyx's expression looked as if he thought the books would provide answers for him without him actually touching them. Of course they didn't, and Demyx resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to look through them all for clues. Demyx shifted a foot beneath the table, and bumped into something. With a little trepidation, Demyx glanced under the table, and bit back a little cry of surprise. There was a book on the ground, and he was pretty sure it wasn't there before. Demyx picked it up and set it with the other books on the table and sighed. Things were beginning to get a little more strange.

Demyx sorted the books into piles, but all that told him was that the larger pile of books were about ghosts/spirits, and a smaller pile next to it apartments. The one he had picked up off the ground moments earlier was a crime book, one that talked about different types of organizations that were around the world. Demyx had scanned it and it wasn't really all that useful, because it didn't say where those organizations were, just that they were all over the world. It wasn't a very comforting thought, and Demyx couldn't bring himself to check the date of the book. He didn't want to think it was recent. He also didn't think about the car that had seemingly been waiting out in the parking lot for him the day before, because he didn't want to feed his paranoia. It had to be a coincidence.

Unable to look at the books and think about it anymore, Demyx instead got up and went over to the window, where he inspected the blinds. He remembered that Xaldin had said Sora told him that the window blinds and lights had shut and turned off on him two days ago. Demyx couldn't find any way that the blinds could have closed without someone manipulating the blinds directly. No drafts could have made it shut, and Demyx highly doubted that Sora would do it himself. Demyx walked over to a door near one side of the basement and opened it, looking inside to inspect the circuit breaker to see if there had been a malfunction with the lights. Nothing. Demyx closed the door, wearing a small frown. What could have caused that to happened to Sora? Demyx felt an unexplained chill, but it was gone as quickly as it had come, but made him feel uneasy in any case.

Turning back to the table, Demyx was about to sit back down when he saw that the apartment book had been opened and a thin line of words had been shakily sketched into a side margin. It read: Sorry about the window blinds and lights. Demyx paled a bit and backed away from the chair. He knew for a fact that no one had come downstairs except for him, and that there were no pens in the vicinity. Demyx backed away toward the door that led back upstairs. The more the unexplained happened to him, the more Demyx thought the library might be haunted, though he wondered why he was the only one being affected. Demyx, in his hurry to get out, accidentally bumped into the door, shutting it.

Demyx whirled around, "Oh no!"

Click.

Demyx heard the door lock itself and groaned. He had just locked himself into the basement and was potentially in the same room as a ghost. Great, just great. Demyx futilely tried to open the door, but it was locked fast. Demyx left the door alone, as well as the window, because it was locked and bolted shut on either side, to prevent people from going in or out of the basement. Demyx sighed miserably. He was locked in here until someone came downstairs and checked the room. Demyx regretted not letting anyone see him. They didn't know he was even in the library. Demyx reached into a pocket and let out another sigh. He had also, it seemed, left his cell phone at home.

Demyx turned and started to wander around the basement, thinking to kill time by walking up and down the aisle of books. After walking past several, Demyx suddenly stopped, having caught something out of the corner of his eyes between two bookcases that went even further into the basement. Curious, Demyx headed in that direction, but almost immediately froze, when he saw someone standing at the end of the bookcases. The same person he had seen, both down here in the basement and in his apartment. Zexion.

Demyx cleared his throat, "Um, hello."

The slate-haired male turned to regard Demyx with his visible eye.

Demyx shifted, a bit nervous, "You..said your name was Zexion, right?"

A pause, then a nod.

"I'm Demyx." Demyx paused, glancing around the area before turning back to Zexion, "Are you the one who's always leaving the books down here?"

Zexion, instead of answering the question, turned and started to walk, "There's an exit this way."

Demyx was suddenly intrigued, and, deciding that Zexion didn't seem to be a ghost, followed after the retreating figure. At least, he hoped Zexion wasn't a ghost. Demyx followed Zexion at a distance as they walked along past bookcases, inwardly marveling at the fact that he hadn't realized that the basement had been so large. Demyx looked up in time to see Zexion turn a corner, and when Demyx turned, Zexion wasn't there anymore, but a door was. Demyx opened the door, and before going through it, muttered, "Thanks for helping me find a way out, Zexion."

-x

Back on the main floor of the library, Demyx passed by Roxas, who was glaring daggers at a grinning Axel, and past Xaldin, who shot him a perplexed look.

"When did you get here, Demyx?"

Demyx paused in his walk, "Oh, a little while ago. There were some books I forgot to take care of so I did that just now." Demyx resumed walking, not wanting a keen Xaldin to be asking anymore questions, "I'll see you tomorrow." Demyx hurried out of the library, missing the sight of Axel running from between some bookcases, books being thrown at him.

-x

Demyx decided to distract himself for the rest of the day, and by the time he reached home (after making sure no one followed him) he was exhausted and collapsed onto the couch.

Riku, seated in a nearby chair reading a book, raised him eyebrow at the sight, "So, did you figure anything out?"

Demyx titled his head to look at Riku, "I saw Zexion in the library again. He showed me a way out of the library basement when I locked myself in. He turned a corner, and I followed close by, but when I rounded the corner, he wasn't there." Demyx didn't want to mention that he was able to see through Zexion, since in his mind he had already by then realized that Zexion had been a ghost.

Riku smirked faintly, and as if reading the other's mind, asked, "Did you see through him?"

Demyx buried his face into a couch pillow and nodded.

"You just don't want to admit that he's a ghost, huh?"

Demyx cast an irked look at Riku, "Of course I don't, but now I don't think there's really any other explanation. I'm trying to not think about it."

Riku stood up with his book, "Want to talk about it tomorrow?"

"After work, I suppose."

"Not going to sleep in your room?" Riku teased lightly.

"..."

"Okay then, I'll sleep in there again." Riku started to walk away when Demyx's voice stopped him.

"Oh, I found another book in the basement. I do think that Zexion is the one leaving them there, but it was different than what was usually being left."

Riku glanced over his shoulder at Demyx, "What was it?"

"Something about crime organizations and assassins and things like that. I didn't look to see when it was published, mostly because the book didn't say where these organizations were."

Riku looked away, silent for a moment, feeling suddenly uneasy, especially at the word 'assassin', "Any reason why that would have shown up?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Yesterday I thought someone was following me, and then there was this car in a grocery parking lot near mine, so I went back into the store. I came back out an hour or so later, and it was gone. I made sure no one followed me home anyway." Demyx sat up to stare at the back of Riku's head, "Something wrong, Riku?"

"Huh? Oh, no it's..." Riku started to head for the bathroom, "It's nothing. I'll see you tomorrow evening."

Demyx, puzzled, went to sleep on the couch. If Demyx didn't know any better, he would have sworn that Riku sounded very uneasy, and...worried? Was it something he had said?

Later that night.

Demyx woke up again, and, with a sigh, sat up on the couch and glanced around in the gloom. He felt chilled again, and knew that his apartment wasn't that cold, so...Demyx turned his head in the direction where the cold appeared to be originating from and spoke in a quiet voice, "Zexion, is that you?" Demyx held back a yelp when Zexion suddenly came out of the shadows and stood there, staring at him.

Zexion wore a faintly surprised expression, "How did you know I was here?"

Trying to ignore the disembodied sound of Zexion's voice, Demyx replied, "I don't really know. It just felt colder then what I was used to feeling in my apartment." Demyx managed to make eye contact, "What are you doing here? How come you're following me around?"

Zexion opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, as though thinking about how to answer.

"Zexion?"

Zexion saw Demyx watching him expectantly, and shook his head slightly, "You are a strange one. I thought you were afraid of ghosts, seeing as last night you ran screaming out of your room."

Demyx blushed faintly at the thought of how he had reacted, before pointing an accusing finger at Zexion, "You walked through a solid wall! How was I supposed to react?"

Zexion held up a hand to stop Demyx from further accusing him of things, "Not right now. There is a reason I'm here, as well as at the library." Seeing that Demyx was listening he continued, "You need to be careful. The reason I started to follow you around here and at the library is because an organization may be after you for living with Marluxia and Larxene. You could have possibly learned things about who they work for that the leader doesn't want out. I heard you tell the silver-haired one about you thinking you might have been watched by someone in a parking lot. Can you describe the car for me?"

Seeing the seriousness on the other's face, Demyx pushed the thought that the man standing before him was a ghost, and answered, "Well, I didn't get too close, but it was either black or a navy color, with tinted windows, so I couldn't see who was inside...but I saw the exhaust, so it was on..." Demyx frowned a little, "That's weird, now that I think about it, there was someone standing a few cars down, but I didn't stick around to see if they were just going to there own car."

"Can you describe them?"

Demyx stared up at the ceiling as he thought aloud, "Well...he was tall, and had longer hair...blue...blue hair." Demyx shook his head, "I wasn't close enough to tell anything else." Demyx caught sight of a troubled look on Zexion's face, "What is it?"

Zexion let out a light sigh, "It seems like they already have an eye on you. Are you positive they didn't follow you here?"

"Yes..."

"Make sure they don't. You don't want to get involved." There was something bitter in his voice as he said it. Zexion shook his head and glanced over at a clock, "It's late. You're going to the library tomorrow, correct?" Seeing a sleepy nod, Zexion said, "When you have the time, go into the basement. I'll talk to you more there. In the meantime, make sure you aren't being followed. Understand?" Seeing another nod, Zexion returned the nod, and backed away, vanishing into the surrounding darkness.

Demyx curled up on the bed sleepily, unable to stay awake. Things were very strange indeed. What did Zexion mean someone had an eye on him? It was confusing to Demyx's tired mind.

Silence, then...

Riku woke up from a troubling dream to hear Demyx's yell.

"Zexion! What did you mean, someone might be after me?"

-x-x-

Transitioning from chapter to chapter can be hard sometimes. Hopefully it makes sense. I do like hearing what people have to say about a story, so if anyone has any suggestions/comments about the chapter, I'd like to hear them. It helps me out if I know there's something I can work on for future chapters.

The next chapter will probably not be out until around August 10th or so, perhaps sooner if I can finish a power point for a summer course I'm taking early (never done a pp before). That's the reason this chapter is longer. The story should start to move along in the next chapter, since a plot device showed up in this one. -Sigh- I should have stared posting this story over a year ago. Oh well, I'm getting it up now.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

-x-x-

Demyx woke up the next morning feeling refreshed despite having slept on the couch. Once Demyx was ready for the day, he left the apartment without waking Riku up. Mostly because the silver-haired male had not appreciated being woken in the middle of the night by a scream. As Demyx headed to the library, he remembered his early morning conversation with Zexion. He kept a lookout for anyone suspicious while he walked, and upon reaching the library felt a little better. No one was around stalking him. Maybe Zexion was looking into things too much. Demyx went into the library, deciding to get some work done before going down to the basement to speak with Zexion.

"Oh! Good morning, Demyx!"

Demyx looked up, and saw Kairi at the information desk, beaming at him. He offered a small smile in return, "Morning, Kairi."

Xaldin was nearby with a shelving cart, "Ah, Demyx, have you seen Roxas yet, or did you just come in?"

"Oh, I just got here. Roxas isn't here yet?" Demyx felt slightly uneasy, but decided the worry was unfounded. He wasn't being followed around by strange people after all.

Kairi laughed, "I bet Roxas is sleeping in. I can go give him a call, if you'd like."

Xaldin nodded, "I'll watch the desk."

"Thanks Xaldin." While Kairi retreated to go and call Roxas, Demyx avoided Xaldin's questioning gaze and pulled the cart full of books away, intending to start shelving them.

Demyx worked for nearly three hours, while managing to avoid Xaldin, who seemed to want to talk to him. After putting the final book from another cart away, Demyx decided to go down to the basement to see Zexion. Demyx passed by Kairi on the way, who was teasing Roxas about being late for work. Demyx opened the basement door and walked down the stairs with less apprehension than before, and entered the main part of the basement. Demyx realized that half the lights were out, and that the window blinds were drawn shut. Demyx turned, and saw Zexion seated in the same chair he usually appeared in.

"Did anyone follow you to the library?" Zexion questioned as a way of greeting, before Demyx could say anything.

Demyx shook his head, "I didn't see anyone."

Zexion stared at Demyx for a moment, before speaking, "I suppose you haven't been, otherwise you wouldn't have made it to the library."

Demyx felt a bit unnerved, "Is it really all that bad?"

"Perhaps."

Demyx frowned a bit at the short reply, "You said you wanted to talk to me? About that?" Seeing Zexion nod, Demyx sat down on a chair on the other side of the small table, and turned in his seat to look at Zexion.

Zexion saw Demyx looking at him expectantly, and shook his head a bit and began to speak, "You need to be careful and stay out of these people's way. You need to do this until they forget about you or lose interest in you. You do not want to be caught by them, understand?" Seeing a faint nod, Zexion continued, "I can keep an eye out for anyone that might be trying to follow you, and try and get to you before they do."

"Do you know...how long I'll have to worry about this?"

Zexion shook his head again, "I cannot be sure."

"Why are you helping me?"

Zexion looked away as he responded, "I don't want to see anyone else end up like me." Zexion glanced back at Demyx, and added, "I don't want to talk about it right now."

Demyx had been about to say something, but then merely nodded at Zexion's statement. There was a short silence between them, but no new conversation was started. Demyx got up and went back upstairs, to make sure that no one missed him while he had been talking to Zexion.

Zexion watched him leave, before vanishing from sight.

-x

Towards the end of the day, Xaldin offered to close up, and Demyx immediately agreed, leaving as soon as he could, wanting to get back to his apartment before it got too dark.

Demyx was between his apartment and the library, when he suddenly heard Zexion calling out a warning to him.

"Demyx! Run! It's them! Get away as quickly as you can!"

Demyx broke into a run as soon as he spotted some people closing in on him. More voices sounded out behind him and Demyx wondered why the police weren't patrolling the area like they normally would during the evening. Demyx darted past his apartment, not wanting to lead anyone dangerous back to where he lived. Demyx started to tire, and noticed, to his dismay, that he had been chased all the way to a cliff that was at the edge of the city. Demyx ground to a halt, barely preventing himself from falling over down the cliff. Demyx half turned and saw several men approaching him, cutting off any more attempts of escape.

At the front of the small group was a silver-haired man with orange eyes, who was looking at him with a contemplating look.

Demyx heard the man say something, but was too preoccupied by the fact that the others with him had weapons in their hands and were leering at him unpleasantly. Demyx heard a shout, then the sensation of being shoved to one side roughly, at the same time a gunshot rang out. Demyx heard someone let out a pained groan, but Demyx himself didn't feel hurt. Demyx, instead of falling on the ground, lost his balance after being shoved, and fell off the cliff with a cry of horror. Demyx squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see what would happen, and hoped he'd soon be unconscious. He tumbled down the side of the cliff, somehow managing to stay close enough that he didn't hit any jagged edges, and, with a final, painful drop, ended up on the bottom of the cliff, bruised and battered, but alive.

Demyx, shaken, lay where he was for a moment. Realizing that he didn't feel very dead, he sat up slowly, wincing when his body protested the sudden movement. Demyx heard another gunshot, and, regardless of how he felt, stumbled to his feet and walked away from the direction of the shouting voices. _'Why did they...they attack me? Would I have gotten shot if I hadn't been pushed out of the way?'_ Demyx glanced around himself hopelessly, not seeing any way to get back up to where he had been before falling. Faint shouts from the top of the cliff caused him to move a little more quickly, not wanting to be caught. Demyx had no idea how long he had run, but tired once more, he collapsed on the ground, too weary to continue.

Demyx knew he dreamed something about when he had been at the top of the cliff, and in the dream had realized that he had recognized the voice that had shouted. A rocking sensation that didn't fit with the dream woke Demyx up, and he struggled upright, realizing that one, he was in a moving vehicle and two, he didn't recognize the driver of said vehicle. Before Demyx could get worked up over his new surroundings, the driver, a man with light blond hair cut close to his head, spoke up with a slight accent.

"Ah, you're awake. Good. I thought your game may have been over after that tumble you took. Quite an amazing save. I'm driving over to Cloud's house to drop you off there." The man shook his head, "How in the world did you end up in that predicament, at the bottom of a cliff? You must be a very lucky man. Very lucky indeed."

Demyx stared at the man in shocked silence.

The man laughed a little, "My apologies, my name is Luxord. I'm an acquaintance of Cloud's. I was told to go look for you when Riku said that you hadn't returned from work yet." Luxord cast a glance in the rear view mirror at Demyx, "Up to explaining what happened to you?"

Demyx looked away, mumbling, "I was followed once I got a few minutes away from the library. I ran and got chased, and got backed up against the cliff. A man with silver hair and orange eyes must have told someone else with him to attack me, because I got shoved out of the way by someone before I heard a gunshot."

"Ah. That explains it."

Demyx looked up at Luxord, "What do you mean?"

Luxord was concentrating on the road again, "The police found a pink-haired man at the top of the cliff, injured by a few gunshot wounds. He's been taken to the hospital." Luxord heard Demyx make a surprised exhalation, and spoke up again, "Do you know him?"

"Yes...his name is Marluxia, he and another stayed at my place for awhile up until a few days ago."

Luxord turned his car into Cloud's driveway, and turned off the ignition, "The hospital staff said that they would call Cloud's house when they had any news on, Marluxia, did you say his name was? They'll let us know how he's doing." Luxord and Demyx exited the car and walked up the sidewalk to the front door, where Sora threw the door open, brightening upon seeing that Demyx was safe.

"Demyx! You're okay!" Sora said, sounding relieved, as he stepped aside and let the two other blonds inside. In the living room, Roxas was lounging on a couch, with Cloud sitting in a nearby chair, looking tense. Demyx and Luxord had barely entered the living room when the phone started to ring.

Cloud picked up the phone, "..."

Demyx waited nearby anxiously to see if it was news about Marluxia's condition.

Cloud mostly listened to whoever was on the other line, only interjecting to say 'yes' and 'I see' and 'all right.' Cloud wrapped up the phone call, "Yes, thank you for calling." Cloud hung up, and seeing Demyx looking at him, shook his head, "It doesn't look good Demyx. They said they'd be surprised if he lasted another few hours. Sorry."

Demyx looked away and nodded, looking saddened, "Do you...think I should go back to my apartment? I don't think those people know where I live."

"It should be safe, for now, at least. After all, they thought you fell down a cliff, right?" Cloud glanced over at Luxord, "Can you stay over at his place, to make sure no one knows he lives there?"

Luxord nodded, "Yes, I can. Would you mind keeping my car in your garage for the time being?"

Cloud accepted the other man's car keys, inwardly wondering why he didn't just drive Demyx to the apartment.

Luxord turned and clapped Demyx lightly on the shoulder, "Lead the way! A walk will make you feel better."

"I guess it could..." Demyx looked at Roxas, then Sora, and said, "I'll see you two later, then."

Sora smiled, "Right!"

Roxas merely nodded, as if to say he knew that already because he'd be at the library the next day.

Demyx turned to leave, waving good-bye to Cloud as he left the house. As he left, Luxord stayed behind to say something to Cloud. Outside the house, Demyx was about to head down the sidewalk, when something grabbed him from behind. Demyx let out a strangled yelp as Leon spoke in a low tone, "The people who attacked you. The silver haired man. Did he have someone with him with blue hair and yellow eyes, carrying a claymore?"

Demyx bobbed his head up and down quickly, unable to speak at the moment.

Inside the house, Luxord went closer to Cloud and said in a whisper, "It may have been my imagination, but I thought I may have seen someone following me for a few blocks when I first found Demyx. No one followed me here, but I think it's best to leave my car here, just in case it was someone that was after Demyx. It wouldn't do any good to put the car in front of his apartment." Luxord backed away and headed for the door, "I'll send a call over to you once we reach the apartment." Once outside, Luxord spotted Leon terrorizing a terrified Dmeyx, and let out a tut-tutting sound, "You shouldn't be sneaking up on people and scaring them like that."

"Luxord." Demyx slipped out of Leon's grasp and hurried over to Luxord, glancing over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of who had grabbed him. But he saw only an outline of a man, as Leon had went to lurking in the shadows, not wanting Demyx to see him.

Luxord steered Demyx away, down the sidewalk, and spoke, "Let's let Cloud deal with him. Which way to the apartment?"

Demyx didn't protest, even though he was curious who the person was. He led the way down the sidewalk, intent on going home and getting some rest. The night sky was starry, but Demyx didn't notice as he focused on going home. Luxord followed, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

Leon watched the two disappear into the distance, before relaxing his stance and heading back to the house. His injuries weren't exactly healed yet, so he wasn't really fit to be walking around just yet. _'Not to mention Cloud's hidden my gunblade, and I'm not going anywhere without being armed. Who knows when Xemnas will strike again.'_ Leon turned the doorknob, then stared down at it and swore under his breath. The door was locked.

-x

Cloud stood up and glanced at Roxas and Sora, "Time for bed you two. It's getting late." He watched the two teens retreat up the stairs to their rooms, before turning and heading out the back door. While Roxas and Sora might not have noticed it, Cloud had sensed Leon coming down the stairs and sneaking outside. He hadn't come back in yet, and Cloud went to go see if he were still around or if the man had tried to leave. Though Cloud didn't think that Leon would leave without a weapon. Once outside, it didn't take Cloud long to find out where Leon had gotten to.

Leon was next to the Chocobo statue, trying to put it back into place, and failing miserably because of his injuries.

Cloud approached Leon from behind, momentarily forgetting that the other man was high strung enough that he probably didn't appreciate someone sneaking up from behind. Cloud stepped back abruptly when Leon suddenly turned around and lunged at him without a moments hesitation. Cloud couldn't dodge Leon's lunge, and found himself pinned down by Leon. There was a short silence as the two stared at one another, Cloud wincing slightly from the sudden impact of the ground to his back. Leon had his arms pinned down, and didn't appear to be ready to let go of him anytime soon.

"Leon?"

-x

Upstairs, Sora was ready to go to bed, when Roxas suddenly came into his room and went over to his window. Sora blinked in confusion, "Roxas?"

"Shh. Come over here. What do you see?"

Frowning a little bit, Sora got up out of bed and joined his younger brother at the window.

"Over there, by the statue."

Sora eyes followed to where Roxas had indicated, and saw two dark shapes there, motionless. Sora squinted, speaking up, "Is Cloud...being pinned down by some other guy?" Sora turned and looked at Roxas, who nodded. Sora turned to look again with widened eyes, "Oh my god, he's gonna rape Cloud and steal his money! Roxas! What should we do?" Sora turned again to see Roxas running out of his room. The brunette followed after Roxas, who spoke over his shoulder, "You have got to stop reading those books when you go to the library. Less television too."

"What books? What are you talking about?"

"Never mind."

"Roxas!"

"Quiet! Do you want him to hear us?"

Sora quieted and followed Roxas out the back door, not really sure what his brother was planning to do.

-x-x-

Thanks to Mizu Hoseki and MadeInHolland for the reviews. I'm glad it's interesting. There will be more of Cloud and Leon, since Demyx will have to go back to Cloud's in the near future. I'll be able to update this story again before fall courses start.

Sora's mind is an interesting place. Maybe Axel's helping him pick out books. XD


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

-x-x-

Roxas made it outside first, and held out an arm to stop Sora from running past him. Roxas eyed the two men near the statue, trying to figure out what they could do to help Cloud. It wouldn't be a good idea to make any loud noises, it might make the situation worse. So what, then, could they do to help Cloud?

"Roxas?" Sora whispered, poking his younger brother in the shoulder.

Roxas waved away Sora's hand, and whispered back, "Shh. You want them to hear us?"

"...but what can we do? It's not like we can catch that guy off guard or something." Sora said in response, then let out a muffled cry of surprise as Roxas, who seemed to have come to some internal decision, ran across the grass, toward the man who was pinning Cloud down. Sora recovered from his surprise and followed. Roxas wasn't going to jump the man was he? He wasn't strong enough to do anything other than make the person angry. "Roxas! Wait!"

Roxas ignored Sora's whispered shout, and made a beeline for Leon's back.

-x

Cloud was still pinned to the ground as he and Leon stared at one another for a stretch of time, before Leon appeared to realize that it was Cloud.

Leon let go of Cloud after another moment of silence, and shook his head, "Don't do that. I thought you were someone coming in for a sneak attack." Leon stared down at Cloud and wondered how the blond had figured out that he was outside. _'He never did tell me what he did for a living, though he did say he had been a mercenary...but what kind of mercenary needs an enormous sword like the one he showed me before?' _ Leon mentally shrugged. _'Well, I've told him nothing about me, really, so there's no need for him to tell me...' _ Leon's thought process was interrupted when something grabbed him around the neck and tugged him backwards, away from Cloud.

Cloud had just gotten up and watched in surprised as Roxas jumped Leon from behind and brought the off-guard man to the ground in a choke hold, clinging tightly.

"Cloud! Are you all right?" Sora hurried over to Cloud's side.

Cloud turned and saw Sora couching next to him with a worried expression, "Sora? What are you two doing up?"

Sora indicated the growling Roxas that still had his arms wrapped around Leon's neck, "We saw you guys through the window and we thought you were being attacked. So we came out to help."

Cloud sighed. He was going to have to have a talk with them at some point, about how not to run towards a dangerous situation, and to call the cops first. Cloud supposed, in this case, it was a good thing they didn't, "I'm fine, Sora. I just surprised him, that's all." Cloud turned his attention to Leon and saw him struggling for breath. Cloud knew the man's pride was going to be low when he realized a smaller teen had brought him down, "Roxas! Let go of him. It's all right."

Roxas shot Cloud an incredulous look, but let go of Leon, who immediately started to gasp in some air. Roxas moved over to where Sora was and crouched down next to him as well, eying Leon suspiciously, as though expecting him to go after Cloud again.

Leon sat up slowly and rubbed his throat absently, glancing over at Roxas, who tensed up at the look. Leon let out a sigh and turned his eyes to Cloud, "You teach them self defense?"

Cloud just shook his head as Roxas muttered something about spur of the moment.

Sora, after realizing that no one was being hurt, spoke up, "Who is he Cloud?" Roxas turned his stare to Cloud, wanting an explanation.

"Oh, I found him injured on our property and brought him inside. His name is Leon," Cloud responded.

"You didn't take him to a hospital?" Sora sounded surprised.

Cloud shook his head, "I wasn't thinking at the moment. I had Vexen come over and take a look at him though."

"Vexen's...kind of creepy," Sora stated. Next to him, Roxas rolled his eyes, "He's not creepy Sora, he just doesn't like people that much." Roxas wagged a few fingers at Sora, "He'd rather play mad scientist in the lab he has in his basement. Remember last time you were injured and the only place he had open was his lab?"

Sora shivered involuntarily, "Good thing Cloud was there with us. That place was scary. It looked like he was trying to make things down there."

"Like some mutant monster that goes after brunettes?" Roxas asked with a smirk.

"Roxas!"

Leon silently watched the two brothers get into an argument, before looking over at Cloud for answers.

Cloud merely shrugged, "They argue with each other sometimes. It'll stop soon."

Roxas and Sora went back and forth with saying what they thought was the creepiest part of Vexen's basement lab and then came to the conclusion that it was the mysterious sounds they had heard and that Vexen had declined to say what it was.

"Maybe it _was_ a monster..." Sora muttered to himself, glancing around the dark yard as if expecting to see something.

Pleased that he had creeped Sora out for the day, Roxas turned back to Cloud, now wearing a frown, "Why is Leon still at the house?" Roxas thought about it for a moment, and then added, "I don't remember Vexen coming over today, so how long has he been here?"

"About a week."

Roxas was annoyed with this announcement, "A week? Why didn't you say anything?

Cloud gave a shrug, "I didn't think it was anything to worry about. I was going to tell you two."

Roxas crossed his arms, "A strange man in the house that we didn't know about is worrying, Cloud."

Cloud rubbed at his temples. He understood why Roxas was upset, but he was too tired to talk at the moment, "Can we talk about this in the morning?"

Roxas eyed Cloud a moment before nodding grudgingly in agreement. He watched quietly as Cloud helped Leon to his feet.

Leon was silent as he accepted Cloud's hand, and stood up slowly, wincing a little as he did. He waved away Cloud's hands as soon as he was on his feet, and made his way, limping, to the back door, aware now that Cloud was following him closely in case he fell over.

Roxas and Sora followed after the two men, Sora closing and locking the door.

Once things had settled down, Cloud helped Leon up the staircase, and led him back to his bedroom. Once inside the room, Cloud let go of Leon and let the brown-haired man walk over to the bed and sit down on it. Cloud was about to leave the room, when Roxas poked his head into the room.

Roxas stared at the two in the room, and then looked up at Cloud, "Has Leon been using your bed the whole time then?" Seeing the nod, Roxas continued, "I was wondering why you were sleeping on the couch. I thought you might have had a bed-bug infestation or something that you weren't telling us about." Roxas went silent for a moment, before smiling wryly, "Are you sure you're not romantically involved with him and wanted to keep it secret or something? Is that why you didn't say anything earlier?"

There was an uncomfortable silence, with Cloud attempting to answer but failing. After a few tries, Cloud managed to say, "Bed. Now."

Roxas shrugged and left the room, shutting the door as he did.

Cloud and Leon exchanged glances, before the blond turned and left the room as well, "I'm going to go to bed."

Leon watched him go, thinking as the door shut for a second time that he must have imagined seeing a faint blush on the other's cheeks. Leon lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, deciding that he didn't have to worry for now. He was too tired. He needed to recover soon, so that he could go after Xemnas again. It seemed like the man had no qualms about involving innocent bystanders. From what Leon gathered in the few moments he had seen Demyx, he highly doubted that he had learned anything about the organization other than that they were stalking him for being roommates with Larxene and Marluxia. Wasn't Demyx a librarian or something like that? Why would Xemans even bother going after someone like that?

Leon turned over a bit and settled more comfortably onto the bed. What was true at the moment was that Xemnas was willing to kill his own men, which made him even more dangerous. Leon slipped into a light doze, not wanting to completely fall asleep now that Sora and Roxas knew that he was in the house. Leon seriously doubted they'd do anything, since Roxas had only jumped him because he thought Cloud was in danger. It bothered Leon that he hadn't sensed Roxas sneaking up behind him like he had with Cloud.

Downstairs, Cloud settled onto the couch in the living room. He hoped that whoever had gone after Demyx wouldn't be able to find him at his apartment. Cloud drifted into an uneasy sleep.

-x

Walking to the apartment was fine, since nothing came out at them from the gathering shadows of the night. Luxord was relieved that they weren't followed, and went after Demyx into the apartment complex. Luxord glanced around as he waited for Demyx to open up his apartment door.

Inside the apartment, Luxord looked around as Demyx locked the door from the inside. Something moved from inside one of the nearby rooms and Luxord tensed. Had someone gotten into the room before them?

"Riku? You here?" Demyx called down the short hall, backing up as Riku came out of a bedroom and walked over to the kitchen counter, eying Luxord suspiciously.

"Who is he?"

Luxord smiled faintly, "I was about to ask you the same thing."

Demyx caught the looks thrown between the two men, and spoke up quickly, "Luxord, this is Riku. He's going to start renting a room from me. Riku, this is Luxord. He's an acquaintance of Clouds'."

Riku seemed to relax, and turned his attention to Demyx, "Where have you been? I thought you got out of work early today."

"Er..." Demyx glanced at Luxord, who nodded, before turning back to Riku, "Well, I was on my way home when Zexion called out to me to run, and I did. Some men were chasing after me, and it was supposedly those people that were waiting outside the grocery store that one day." Demyx realized that he hadn't mentioned Zexion to Luxord, and from the thoughtful look on Luxord's face, he was going to have some explaining to do. At least Riku understood. Demyx resumed speaking, "I ran to the edge of town, up until I reached that cliff drop off. I didn't know what to do. A silver-haired man was saying something, but I was too scared to actually hear what he was saying. I got shoved out of the way when a gunshot rang out, and I fell...down the cliff." Demyx was babbling now after seeing Riku's expression, "I was fine though. Luxord came and brought me over to Cloud's. The person that shoved me out of the way was Marluxia, but when Cloud got called, the doctor or nurse said he didn't look so good. Then I came here with Luxord until we figure out what to do next."

"Demyx."

"Yes?"

"Breathe, and calm down," Riku responded, as he had sat down on a chair and was looking at Demyx with an expression between horror and anger at the thought of someone trying to hurt him. While Demyx took his advice, Riku thought of something, and spoke up in what he thought was a casual tone, "Did you happen to see a man with white hair and orange eyes?"

Demyx frowned thoughtfully, before shaking his head, "No, only the one with silver hair and orange eyes. Why?"

Riku appeared relieved once more, "It's...nothing." Seeing Demyx and Luxord cast doubtful looks at him, Riku sighed, "I don't want to talk about it right now. I will eventually, but it isn't what matters right now." Riku was silent a moment, before looking up at Demyx, "You work tomorrow, right? Do you want me to tag along?"

Demyx shook his head, "I think I'll be okay." Besides, he didn't want to involve Riku in something potentially dangerous when it seemed that Riku was already having to worry about something else.

Luxord sat down on the couch, "I will go with Demyx to work. After all, Cloud asked that I keep an eye out for him."

Riku nodded, looking relieved that he didn't have to go outside. There was a slim chance that he hadn't had been followed, but Riku didn't want to leave himself out in the open, just in case.

Demyx cast him a concerned look, "Are you sure everything's fine, Riku?"

Riku looked away, and Luxord looked thoughtful once again, "Is someone after you?"

Demyx gave Luxord a surprised look, before glancing over at Riku, who looked troubled.

Riku stared off to the side, "Maybe, I'm not so sure anymore. I haven't seen them for years, so I'm hoping I threw him off my trail for good this time." Riku stood up and walked to the second bedroom, "I had a bed brought in today, so you can have your room back, Demyx."

Luxord and Demyx watched the silver-haired male walk away, before looking at one another. Demyx sighed, "I guess worrying won't do any good. I'll go get some sleep. Good-night, Luxord."

"Good night." Luxord lay down on the couch as Demyx walked away to go to bed. Luxord stared up at the ceiling in thought. Things were a lot more interesting than he had first thought. He wondered how the game would go once all the pieces were assembled.

-x

Demyx had hoped to get some sleep, but should have known that it was too good to be true. He woke in the middle of the night quite suddenly, laying there staring up at the ceiling in an attempt to figure out why he was up. Demyx held perfectly still as he heard some voices arguing in a low tone, as if trying to not wake him up. Demyx relaxed slightly when he identified one of the voices as Zexion. While it was unnerving that the ghost could come and go as he pleased, it was a lot better than some unknown person trying to murder him in bed. Demyx sat up quickly in bed when he identified the second voice as belonging to Marluxia. The sight Demyx saw was Zexion standing by the window arguing with Marluxia, who was hanging from his apartment window, which was three stories up. Demyx frowned at the pink-haired man. _ 'How did he get up here?' _ Demyx decided to find out if he could, "Marluxia?"

Both Zexion and Marluxia fell silent upon hearing Demyx, and both looked at him in unison. Which was a bit scary as they both were wearing similar expressions. Marluxia dropped down out of view all of a sudden, as Zexion drifted over to the bed, where Demyx's mouth hung open in surprise at Marluxia's abrupt departure.

Shaking is head, Demyx spoke uncertainly to Zexion, "Was that...Marluxia?"

"Yes, it was."

Demyx looked away. There was no way Marluxia would have just up and walked away from the hospital, "So...he did die after all." Demyx frowned then added, "...but he wasn't a ghost, was he?"

Zexion looked away, toward the window where Marluxia had been, "No, he isn't. Get some sleep, Demyx. I'll explain things to you at the library tomorrow." He vanished before Demyx could protest.

Demyx lay back down in bed, knowing that Marluxia had been the one to shove him out of harm's way. Demyx rolled over. At least he might be able to thank Marluxia if he showed up again. Demyx drifted off into a troubled sleep.

The next morning...

Cloud was awoken by a phone ringing, and he sleepily answered it, "Yes?" He muttered drowsily, before he held the phone away from his ear as Vexen went on a mini rant.

"Don't 'yes' me. I told you I was going to come and check up on that injured man in a week, didn't I? Are you going to be awake enough to let me in the door?"

Cloud blinked at the phone, before putting it up to his ear again, "I am awake. When will you be here Vexen?'

There was a slight huff on the other end of the phone, "Twenty minutes Cloud. What did you do, sleep on the couch?"

"As a matter of fact I did."

"..."

"Vexen?"

Click.

Cloud stared at the phone, before hanging it up and flopping onto the couch with a sigh. He did need to get up, but the couch was comfortable. With another sigh, Cloud got up off the couch and headed up the stairs to go check on Leon. Cloud opened the door as quietly as he could as he entered the room and saw that Leon was still asleep. This was a little surprising, but it worked as Cloud went into his closet to get some clothes to change into. As he was pulling on his top, Leon spoke from behind.

"Do you always change in the open like that?"

Cloud spun around, clothed, and glared a little at Leon, "I thought you were asleep."

Leon saw a faint blush appear this time, and settled back on the bed with a faint smile, deciding to tease the other a bit, "Good thing you didn't change your boxers."

Cloud flushed a bit more noticeably and shot a reply back before thinking what it was that he was saying, "You should be glad that I didn't change your boxers the first night you were here." There was a short silence, and Leon refused to look at Cloud, so the blond decided to get back at Leon a bit more, "Do all of your boxers have little hearts on them?"

Twitch.

Leon didn't blush, but it was a close thing. He was, however, now self conscious now that he thought about the idea of Cloud seeing him almost naked. Why was that?

Cloud decided to steer the conversation in another direction, "Vexen is stopping by to check on your wounds to see how you're healing."

Leon bristled at the thought of the dirty-blond haired man checking anything and scowled up at Cloud, who was looking a little smug, "I'm fine. I don't need him to look at my injuries. They're healing just fine." Seeing Cloud about to argue, Leon decided to do another conversation change, "Where is my gunblade?" When Cloud didn't respond, Leon hefted himself out of bed and approached the blond with a glint in his eyes. He was going to have his weapon back sooner or later.

Cloud discreetly moved backwards until he was up against the door, thinking to make a quick escape, when Leon foiled him by pinning him up against the door. Cloud avoided eye contract, because he knew if he looked now, he might be more inclined to tell Leon whatever he wanted to know. Hot breath tickled the side of his throat as Leon muttered in a low tone, "Well, will you tell me where it is?" Cloud was silent as he wondered when Vexen would arrive. Soon, hopefully. cloud wasn't sure how long he would last otherwise.

Leon was perplexed with Cloud's behavior, but ignored it as he pressed for information about his weapon. "Where is it Cloud?"

"..."

Leon blinked. Why was Cloud looking so flustered? It didn't seem like the blond to act like that, for the short amount of time that he had known him, "Cloud?" Leon let out a grunt as Cloud tackled him and pinned him against the ground. Leon stared up at Cloud, who looked rather surprised at what he had just done.

A knock sounded on the front door, followed by Sora yelling that he'd go answer it.

Cloud and Leon exchanged looks, before proceeding to wrestle with one another. Cloud trying to get Leon to go back to the bed, and Leon trying to get away from Cloud in order to avoid Vexen checking out his injuries.

The door opened, and a heavy sigh sounded, "Really, Cloud, this again? What are you two doing?"

Cloud and Leon abruptly stopped what they were doing and stared up at Vexen, who had opened the bedroom door and was staring down at them with irritation.

Vexen shook his head, "Get a sign sometime Cloud, so people don't walk in on this."

Cloud realized how close his face was to Leon's, and quickly moved away, to allow Vexen to check up on his injuries. Cloud hovered near the door as he watched Vexen order Leon back onto the bed, and check the healing wounds. Cloud avoided Leon's questioning gaze, not really knowing what to say to the man, as he wasn't sure what to think of what had happened between them either.

-x-x-

Thanks to Mizu Hoseki and Slipping Sanity for the reviews. I'm making the chapters a little longer because I don't know how often I'll be able to update the story during my fall classes. I'll see if I can get another chapter up before classes start.


	9. Chapter 9

I apologize for the long stretch of absence/not updating. I don't know if people are still interested in this story, but from the reviews I do have, it makes me feel bad that I didn't get at least this chapter posted before going MIA and doing other stories.

Like _Rain Noir,_ I didn't want to post chapters for this story when I wasn't in the mood/would put up half-assed chapters/etc. The delay was also due to the fact that I had lost my notes/chapters for the story for about a year and a half. I have since found them, I've graduated from college , and I am currently looking for a job. Therefore, I now have time to update while I search. I'm also back in the right frame of mind to write this story, and with the games that came out (mainly Dream Drop Distance and the remix coming out soon) some of the story did change for the later half. That is the reason for the change in the title.

The updates for this story may not be as frequent as they were before but it certainly won't take years. A month or so at the most. Bear with me if you're still interested in reading.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Cloud made himself scare, and headed across the hall and down the stairs. With his thoughts still revolving around Leon, Cloud didn't realize that Roxas was asking him a question until he nearly walked into the teen. It then registered in his mind that Roxas had been saying something to him, "What did you say?"

Giving Cloud a quizzical look, Roxas shook his head at the other's distractedness and repeated the question, "Could you take me to the library? I don't want to be late for my part time job."

Cloud had conflicting thoughts at Roxas' words. On one hand, he knew that he should take Roxas to the library, but on the other had he really wanted to check on Leon again. Those injuries had been pretty bad. What if they weren't healing correctly, even after Vexen had checked on them? Cloud didn't have time to dwell on the reason why he was so concerned about Leon, because he spotted Vexen walking down the stairs. The doctor was the answer to his problem of leaving the house. He only hoped the other blond man was in a good mood, "Vexen, how is he doing?"

Vexen paused on his way down the staircase, "...He's doing surprisingly well, considering the wounds. As long as he doesn't move around too vigorously, he should be well within a month or so."

Cloud pointedly ignored Vexen's jibe, "Could you take Roxas to the library?"

Vexen studied Cloud silently for a moment, before sighing, not in the mood to argue, "If I must. I need to go there anyway."

Roxas wasn't exactly thrilled about this as he spoke up moodily, "Fine. As long as I'm not late."

Vexen shook his head disapprovingly at Roxas' tone, and exited the house, followed closely by the blond teenager, who cast a curious look Cloud's way.

Cloud gave no response, and once the door was shut, Cloud turned and went up the stairs once more. He heard the water running, which meant that Sora was more than likely taking a shower. Good. He would be able to check on Leon without being interrupted. Cloud blinked. Wait. Why would it matter if he were interrupted? He was just checking on Leon, that was all. Cloud headed down the short hall, and went into his bedroom without knocking.

Cloud and Leon stared at one another for a few seconds, before the blond turned to leave. Cloud stopped short when Leon spoke.

"Where are you going? We're both men, so why do you care if I'm half naked? You're not a woman, are you?" The last was said with what could have been faint amusement.

Cloud threw Leon a dirty look, before turning and leaving the bedroom anyway.

Leon frowned a little as the door closed, wondering if he had seen a faint blush across Cloud's face when he'd walked in on him changing clothes. _'Does he like me or something? It's a little odd, but I don't exactly care one way or another.' _Leon sat down on the bed gingerly, pulling on a shirt and buttoning it up carefully.

Leon was trying to decide whether or not it bothered him that he found Cloud intriguing as well. Shaking the thought away, Leon lay back down, assuming that Cloud would bring him something to eat. If not, Leon felt well enough that he would be able to get down the stairs to find something. It had irked Leon that Vexen had been telling him that he shouldn't overexert himself. He felt perfectly fine, but for the fact that he was sore from his injuries. Shuffling around wouldn't be detrimental to his recovery.

-x

Vexen made it to the library in good time, and parked his car near the entrance. Roxas jumped out of the car as soon as it had come to a halt, murmuring quick thanks as he rushed to the front doors. Vexen got out of the car more slowly, grumbling under his breath about young people and their hasty nature. Vexen locked the car and headed to the library's front doors at a more leisurely pace.

As Vexen entered the library, he was unaware that someone watching him from through the basement windows with thoughtful blue eyes.

-x

Inside of the library, Roxas hurried to get ready for work. As Roxas made his way to the back of the library, he saw Demyx speaking with Xaldin and Kairi. Roxas slowed, curious, and moved a little closer to listen in on the conversation. He could tell that the smile Demyx was wearing was the one he wore when he was avoiding telling someone the whole truth.

"Oh no, I'm fine. I just fell down in the kitchen, and the pot I was using landed on me." Demyx was saying sheepishly, as if this were a common occurrence.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Kairi questioned in a concerned tone, but she was unsurprised. She wouldn't put it past Demyx to find a way to be injured by inanimate objects.

Demyx nodded, smiling winningly, "I'll be fine. It's just a few bumps and bruises. Nothing bad." He really hated lying to his friends, but he felt it was likely the safest thing to do.

Roxas walked away. He could tell that Xaldin wasn't buying it, and Roxas already knew what had happened, and he thought it was smart of Demyx to not say what really occurred. Who knew if Demyx's assailants would show up again.

Kairi had spotted Roxas walking away, and went after him to talk i.e. pester him about being a little late.

Roxas was not at all pleased to be heckled.

Demyx and Xaldin watched Kairi go, before the older male spoke, "Who is that man that came here with you?" Xaldin indicated Luxord, who was seated at a nearby table, reading what appeared to be a book on gamboling.

Demyx turned to look, "Oh, that's...Luxord. My car broke down, so he gave me a ride."

As Demyx was speaking, Xaldin could tell that there were underlying circumstances, but decided not to press for details. He knew that Demyx would explain when he felt the time was right. Xaldin did want to know the truth about Demyx's semi-battered appearance. He really wasn't a good liar. The kitchen disaster was obviously made up. The two parted ways to work, Xaldin still feeling a little troubled.

-x

A half hour passed in relative peace as Xaldin checked books in, before he spotted Vexen walking his way. Xaldin paused in his work as he acknowledged the other's presence, "Vexen. I haven't seen you for a few weeks. How are you?"

Vexen appeared to be a little distracted as he waved a hand, "Fine, fine. I was wondering if you could tell me where a book is located."

Xaldin took a look at the title written on a scrap of paper Vexen held up, and looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, "Oh, this one. I remember it. It's down in the basement, about half-way down the first row of books. There should be a sign on the bookshelf."

"Thank you, Xaldin. I'll be on my way then." Vexen turned and headed for the basement.

Xaldin went back to checking in returned books, his mind still on Demyx and why the younger man would be lying about how he had gotten injured.

-x

Vexen was getting quite frustrated. He had looked at the bookcase Xaldin had indicated, but he couldn't find the book. Vexen searched the surrounding bookcases, and still he couldn't find what he sought. With an annoyed huff, Vexen sat down on an armchair and scowled unseeingly. It wasn't like anyone would be interested in reading it other than himself.

Vexen glanced sideways, and froze, staring at the small table next to him. There, lying on the center of the table, was the book he had been looking for. Vexen was about to pick it up, when he heard an unfamiliar laugh, followed by a more familiar one scolding the one doing the laughing. Vexen was about to rise from his seat, when Zexion suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. Vexen stared, blinking a few times as if he couldn't believe someone was suddenly standing there, "Zexion?"

A nod came from the slate-haired man.

Silently contemplating how the other man could have suddenly been there before him, Vexen added, "I haven't seen you for years."

"Why don't you just say hi? Or do you not want to talk?" A teasing voice sounded from one end of the bookshelves.

Zexion shook his head at the unseen owner of the voice, looking a bit harried.

Marluxia stepped out from behind a bookcase, and leaned up against it in a relaxed stance, a smile hovering about his lips.

Vexen eyed the pink-haired man, before turning his attention back to Zexion, and noticing something that he hadn't before. Vexen could see the books on the shelves _through_ Zexion. Vexen didn't panic, liking to think of himself as a ration human being, but really, there wasn't any other explanation, "You're…a ghost?"

'_Vexen is taking this better than I thought he would.' _Zexion thought as he nodded again, unsure of what he should say.

Vexen turned his attention to Marluxia, "Are you alive, or are you a ghost as well?" The other sure as hell looked alive, with that gleam in his eyes.

Marluxia gave a shrug, "I'm not a ghost." An odd look passed across his face, before he added wryly, "I suppose you could say that I'm sort of like a zombie, but without the whole cliché of craving the flesh of the living." Marluxia gave another shrug, "I feel like myself, except for the fact that I am dead. It's a rather strange sensation. The mortician was terrified when I sat up in the casket and walked out of the funeral parlor."

Vexen recovered from his surprised state, and leaned forward, "Fascinating. And rigor mortis hasn't set in at all?" Marluxia shook his head as Vexen turned his attention to Zexion, "Would I be able to study the two of you?"

Zexion shimmered faintly with anger, scowling, "No." With a shake of his head, he vanished from sight.

Vexen looked a little perplexed, which Marluxia found amusing.

"He probably left because you didn't even ask him how he died, and why he was still floating about." Marluxia commented, as he pushed himself away from the bookshelf.

Vexen thought about that, before he tensed up in the armchair when he noticed Marluxia approaching him, "What do you want?"

Marluxia stopped walking, "Revenge on those who caused my death." Then, with a little leer, he added, "Didn't you want to study me too? Why I'm still up and about when I should be dead? I don't even think my body is decaying like it should."

Vexen relaxed ever so slightly, but was still wary, "I would be interested in research, but I'd not be of any use in any revenge, nor would I want to be involved in anything like that in the first place."

Marluxia gave yet another shrug, "Then I could just follow you around. I may learn something if I ask others around you and that way, you could do your little research project."

Vexen didn't exactly like the way Marluxia had been steadily inching toward him, but Vexen didn't want to pass up the chance to study the walking, talking dead. Vexen let out a slow sigh, "Very well." He reached over to pick the book of the table. When Vexen turned back, he found the pink haired man practically leaning over him with an almost predatory smile.

"My name is Marluxia."

-x

Demyx was up on the second floor of the library, quietly working. That Zexion appeared directly before him didn't help his state of mind at the thought of someone potentially coming after him. Therefore, Demyx dropped the books he had picked up from the cart with a yelp of surprise.

Zexion waited patiently as Demyx scrambled to pick the books back up.

"Don't just appear like that without any warning, Zexion! You scared me!" Demyx stopped as a thought occurred to him, "Wait a minute. What are you doing out during the day? I thought you could only come out at night."

Zexion offered a thin smile, "I'll try to keep my sudden appearances to a minimum. As to why I'm here now, why not? I'm always around. It's dark up here with no windows, so it is easier to manifest." Zexion shook his head, tone turning serious, "Marluxia is speaking with Vexen. It appears as though he wants revenge on those who harmed him, and brought about his death."

"So he really _is_ dead." Demyx murmured, before he began to look puzzled, "Wait, why Vexen? He is just a doctor, right?"

Zexion found it fascinating that Demyx instantly accepted the idea of an undead Marluxia walking and talking like it was a normal, everyday occurrence. Then again, Demyx now believed in ghosts, so perhaps it wasn't all that odd after all. Plus the fact that he had seen Marluxia the other day. Zexion crossed his arms, letting out a thin wisp of a sigh, "He is, but Vexen also enjoys doing research on the side," Zexion looked away as his voice took on an affronted tone, "He wanted to study Marluxia and myself, but I took offense to him not asking why I was like this." Zexion drifted across the room, and cast a look down the stairs, "Marluxia will likely try to hang around Vexen, in order to gather information."

Demyx was quiet, before he gave voice to a question that had been bothering him. "Is that why you appear here and at my house?"

Zexion turned to face Demyx again, wearing a wry smile, "I'm merely following you around because I find you interesting." Zexion smirked a bit at the faint blush his words had caused, before turning serious once again, "I hope to eventually find out how I myself died. All I can remember is falling asleep at home one night, and the next day, I was as you now see me." Zexion looked away, "I don't recall anyone ever following me, but I'm positive it wasn't a natural death…"

"Zexion…" Demyx was rather surprised that the spirit had offered such personal information. Demyx was about to ask something else, when footsteps headed up the stairs, and Zexion abruptly vanished. Demyx hurriedly turned back to shelving books. Demyx couldn't help but feel that Zexion was watching him from somewhere nearby.

The person coming up the stairs turned out to be Xaldin, who was carrying up a stack of books. The black haired man joined Demyx in shelving, and the two worked in silence.

Demyx began to cast sideways glances at Xaldin, but the other didn't say anything. Demyx then began to wonder if Xaldin were angry with him for lying about his injuries he had actually gotten from the cliff. Demyx couldn't take it anymore, "I'm sorry!"

Xaldin turned, watching in bewilderment as Demyx began to repeatedly apologize. He hadn't even said anything to cause the younger man to do that.

"I didn't get the bumps and bruises from tripping and falling down and being hit with a pot in my kitchen!"

Xaldin stared at the fidgeting Demyx impassively, "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Demyx nodded quickly, and launched into a quick explanation, "My day was going just fine. I was headed home a few days ago, when someone started chasing me and I ended up at the cliff at the edge of town. I was attacked there, but I got shoved out of the way, which made me take a tumble down the cliff. I think Marluxia was the one that pushed me out of the way. I survived, somehow, and walked for a few hours, before I passed out. When I came to, I was being taken to Cloud's house by Luxord." Demyx fell silent and cringed a bit at the look of anger on Xaldin's face, "I'm sorry!"

"I'm not angry at you, Demyx." Xaldin told Demyx reassuringly, inwardly furious at the thought of someone daring to try and harm Demyx.

Demyx looked worried, "Don't go looking for trouble, Xaldin." He didn't want him to get hurt too.

"I won't." Xaldin responded, though if he ever met the person who tried to harm Demyx…

Demyx quietly got back to work, not realizing that Zexion had been lingering nearby, invisible, and listening.

-x

Down on the first floor, Roxas was shelving romance novels, and he had a dire foreboding that he shouldn't be shelving them that day. Roxas brushed the sense of unease away, until he spotted someone walking down the aisle of books toward him. The feeling of unease increased tenfold, and Roxas had no time to react as someone suddenly hoisted him into the air in a brief hug. Roxas struggled free of the embrace, and turned to fix the perpetrator with a withering glare.

Axel, the receiver of the glare, merely smirked, as if he hadn't just given Roxas a hug and made him very uncomfortable. "Heya, Roxas."

Roxas retaliated accordingly. He went back to shelving, completely ignoring the red head.

Being ignored didn't sit well with Axel, and he glanced around for inspiration. Axel's eyes fell on the shelves Roxas was placing books on, and began to grin mischievously at one title in particular. He had just found the perfect way to garner attention from Roxas.

Via an erotica novel that was not in the right section.

Axel plucked the book off the shelf and flipped through it, scanning it.

Roxas continued to shelve the books, ignoring Axel's presence as he worked. Roxas was glad that Axel had chosen not to continue to bother him. Roxas was almost comfortable with Axel nearby, until the red-head opened his mouth.

Axel began to read snippets of the book in a passionate manner, "Ah! Touch me there! Deeper, deeper!"

Roxas fumbled with the book he was holding, blushing, but he was determined not to say anything. He knew that Axel was expecting to get a rise out of him. The blond teen was in the process of setting a book on the shelf when Axel leaned in close, whispering a few lines in a seductive way, his breath tickling Roxas' ears. Roxas dropped the book and whirled around, glaring at Axel, well aware that his face must have been a brilliant shade of red.

Axel was smirking again, looking around at the romance novels in a pointed way, "Oh? So you don't like these kinds of books?"

Roxas took the book away from the grinning Axel, "Of course not! These were just the ones I was supposed to take care of today!" Roxas set the book down on the cart and sighed, "Seeing as it seems that you won't leave me alone…as long as you don't read out of any more of these books, or make suggestive comments, you can stand there and talk to me." Roxas began to shelve again, nearly done, and missed the look of surprise that had crossed Axel's face at the abrupt mood change.

Axel then proceeded to cheerfully strike up a conversation, mainly talking about himself, of how he was a college student with a part-time job, and was rather pleased that Roxas appeared to be listening to him. Axel even began to ask questions, delighted when Roxas answered them, even if it sounded a little reluctant (Roxas really _did_ want to be left alone).

Roxas finished shelving the romance books, and took the cart away, to get another one from the back. Roxas scowled at the sight of Axel waiting for him when he returned with another cart.

Axel followed along after Roxas as the blond dragged the cart along, "What's wrong?"

"I'm supposed to shelve these books in the basement, but I really don't want to use the elevator," Roxas muttered.

"Want me to help you carry it down the stairs? That way, you won't have to use the elevator." Axel suggested, looking for any excuse to get to talk with Roxas some more.

Roxas considered the offer, and sensing no ulterior motives (for the time being) other than to help, Roxas nodded, "All right. The basement is this way." He and Axel headed to the door that led to the basement, and after a brief argument of who would head backwards down the stairs, went down. At the bottom of the stairs, the second door was opened, and the cart was lowered. Roxas sighed in relief. He began to push the cart, but was stopped by Axel, who had just grabbed the end of the cart, stopping its movement. Roxas was about to demand what the red head thought he was doing, when Axel asked a question.

"So, why don't you want to use the elevator?"

Roxas tired to move the cart, not really wanting to answer. Usually when people heard he didn't like elevators, they would then proceed to ask if he were afraid of them. It irked Roxas, because it wasn't as if he were afraid of the elevators themselves, but more of the idea of becoming trapped in one or something happening to the elevator when he was trapped in one. Roxas saw that Axel was waiting patiently for a response, and he let out a sigh, "I don't like elevators. I don't want to get trapped in one and have something happen while I can't get out." Blue eyes bored into green ones, as if daring the other to laugh.

Axel, however, didn't laugh, "Some people have things they don't like. Take me, for example. I don't like to be around large bodies of water, like lakes and pools."

Roxas spoke before he could stop himself, "Why?"

Axel smiled a little, "I had a bad experience as a kid around water. I have a fear of drowning. I can swim a little bit, but I'd rather just not take any chances."

Roxas didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing. He didn't feel like prying if Axel wasn't going to ask him in return about his hesitance in elevator rides.

Axel let go of the cart, and followed along after Roxas, and watched the blond shelve the books in silence, until Roxas made a confused sound that prompted him to speak as he peered over Roxas' shoulder, "What is it?"

Roxas indicated the last four books on the cart, "These are supposed to go up on the second floor."

Axel tried to read the titles from where he was, "What are they about?"

"Ghosts, haunted houses, graveyards and asylums..." Roxas responded, stopping short as the basement lights flickered.

Axel gave a nervous laugh as he warily looked up at the lights, "Is the electricity wired right down here?"

Roxas didn't want to stay and find out, and picked up the remaining books, "Come on, let's go back upstairs. Someone else can get the cart later." Roxas headed for the door that was at the base of the stairs, when the door abruptly slammed shut and locked itself. Roxas backed away from the door, straight into Axel, extremely unnerved with what had just happened.

Axel, on the other hand, appeared to be intrigued, "Hey, do you hear someone talking over there?" Before Roxas could stop him, Axel spoke aloud in the direction he thought he had heard the voice, "Hey! Anyone down here?"

"Axel…" Roxas hissed in irritation.

A moment passed, before Vexen stepped out from behind a bookcase, seemingly surprised to see Axel and Roxas.

Relieved that it was only Vexen, Roxas spoke, "Did you see the lights flicker?"

"Yes, I did." Vexen glanced at the door, "Did you slam the door?"

"No, we didn't. It closed on its own," Axel responded, amused that Roxas was uncomfortable with invisible forces slamming doors shut.

"Were you…talking to someone?" Roxas finally asked.

Vexen was quiet, looking as though he were trying to think of how to respond, "Well, one of them was a ghost…"

"A ghost? Right…" Axel drawled, causing Vexen to bristle.

"The other one is some kind of dead body, like a zombie." Vexen added, looking sullen.

Axel was entertained with the other blonds' prickly response, while Roxas was thinking of more important, relevant information, "What were their names?"

"One of them was an old acquaintance of mine, Zexion. He's the ghost. The other one is Marluxia."

There was a long, drawn out silence.

Axel wore a guarded expression, and said nothing, instead seeming to be doing some quick thinking.

Roxas, on the other hand, spoke in a quizzical tone, "Marluxia…was that the person that Demyx was wondering about? The one who was injured, and had been brought to the hospital?"

Marluxia sidled up from behind another bookshelf, and up to Vexen, which appeared to annoy the dirty blond haired doctor.

Roxas started at the appearance of the pink-haired male. He didn't _look_ like he was on his deathbed…

Axel seemed more surprised than either of the two blonds at seeing Marluxia, "How are you…?" Axel drifted off, as if not sure how to voice what was on his mind.

Marluxia turned to regard Axel with disdain, before he gave the red head a patronizing smile, holding a finger to his lips, "I'd appreciate it if you kept my presence quiet. You understand, don't you?"

Axel got over his surprise relatively quick, and gave an indifferent shrug, "Fine by me. Just don't let anyone catch sight of you. I don't feel like coming up with explanations, and really, they wouldn't believe me if I said a dead man was walking around."

"What are you talking about?"

Axel gave Roxas a quick smile, "Work related stuff. Don't worry about it."

Roxas _did_ worry about it, because he was getting the sense that Axel's part time job wasn't exactly typical for a college student, if he was even that. Roxas became a little wary of Axel again as all four of them went back upstairs, as the door had opened back up when they had been talking. Without any of them noticing it open. The four parted ways, Axel clapping a hand on one of Roxas' shoulders, "See you around."

Roxas watched Axel follow after Vexen and Marluxia, and couldn't help but wonder what was going on. He felt that he didn't really want to know, so when his shift was over, Roxas ended up asking Demyx and Luxord for a ride home, instead of walking back like he normally did.

-x

Outside of the library, Axel watched the car with Vexen and Marluxia drive away. Axel flipped open his cell phone, and dialed a number. He waited for a moment, before speaking to the person on the other end of the line, "I've found out what happened to Marluxia, and you're not going to like it. He's up and about like nothing happened."

Axel half-listened to the response, and waved a hand irritably in the air, green eyes narrowing in annoyance, "_I_ don't know how that's possible. Go ask someone who would be interested in the supernatural or something. How the hell would I know anyway? I'm not into that kind of stuff." Axel listened for a while longer, before he sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I got it. I'll check in later." Axel stowed the cell away, feeling a bit better that he could still lie to his 'employer' quite well, despite another of his associates knowing a little too much about his past. The red-head certainly _did_ know about otherworldly stuff, but Axel was quite content to ignore it as often as possible.

A few hours went by with Axel staring off into space, lost in thought. His attention was drawn to the library when he heard Roxas' voice, and a grin flickered across the red head's features as he spotted Roxas and Demyx getting into a car with Luxord. Maybe he could get some more leads from his library pals. Axel hopped down off the ledge he had been standing on, and followed the car at a leisurely pace.

That he kept pace with the car on foot at up to 40 mph would have been cause for concern had Roxas or the others noticed him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I made the decision to combine another story I had into this one, so some of the characters aren't completely human (and this is other than the ghosts/the living dead). Don't worry, there won't be any vampires or werewolves. I've had enough of them for the time being. This will only affect the story itself marginally - it is an AU storyline after all.

I will also stop posting A/N's and disclaimers at the top of a chapter, since a disclaimer in the first chapter should be enough. Obviously I don't own anything from the series.

Again, I apologize for such a long stretch of inactivity. At some point in the future I'll revise the first eight chapters, but for now I'll focus on completing the story.


	10. Chapter 10

Cloud left Roxas and Sora to talk to one another, after they had been dropped off by Luxord. Cloud didn't know whether to smile or not when Roxas immediately began to complain about Axel to Sora, and decided to avoid the issue by going up the stairs to check on Leon. Cloud reached the landing, and crossed the short hall to his bedroom, and entered the room without knocking. Cloud paused in the doorway, staring at the sight before him.

Leon was halfway through stretching his arms out on the bed, and was wincing in pain as the movements pulled at the stitches beneath his bandages. Leon spotted Cloud in the doorway, but chose to ignore him while he continued to stretch. If he didn't, his muscles were likely to lock up later, and it'd be a pain to make his body move as fluidly as he needed it to before he had become injured. Leon avoided eye contact as well, biting his lip lightly as he continued to bring up aches in his body. _'Maybe he'll go away if I ignore him enough. Wait...'_ Leon lifted his eyes to meet Cloud's, as something occurred to him that hadn't before. _ 'Where is my gunblade?'_

Seeing that Leon was looking at him, Cloud felt he had to say something other than just continue to stare at the other man, "Are you sure you should be doing that? Don't you need to let your wounds heal more?"

Leon stared at the blond impassively for a moment, as if considering the other's words, before saying, in a low growl, "Where is my gunblade?"

Cloud crossed his arms, giving Leon an unimpressed look, "You're not well enough to need to know where it is yet."

Leon stared wordlessly at Cloud, before he pushed himself off the bed where he'd been stretching out his upper torso and arms. Swaying slightly, Leon faced Cloud squarely, not in the mood to have his weapon kept from him for such a petty reason.

Cloud took a step back as Leon approached him, but the wounded man moved much more quickly than Cloud had anticipated, that he ended up backed into the wall next to the bedroom door.

Leon stopped a few feet from Cloud, irritated with himself that he couldn't hide the limp he'd seemingly developed from being attacked. Ignoring this for now, Leon narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at Cloud, though his tone was now more reasonable than demanding, "Where is it? I don't want to end up being ambushed here and having no way to defend myself."

"I doubt you're going to be attacked here. No one knows you are here, after all. It wold have ended up on the news otherwise." Cloud said in response, ignoring how close Leon was subconsciously edging toward him. He wasn't going to tell the injured man where his weapon was unless absolutely necessary, and Cloud doubted that Leon would be able to defend himself well even with his weapon back in his hand. Cloud noticed a flash seemingly pass in the other's eyes, and abruptly threw himself to one side. Cloud hadn't, however, anticipated Leon throwing himself at him in the same angle, and taking them both to the ground. Cloud didn't immediately shove Leon off of him, due to the brown-haired male letting out a small grunt of pain, as the fall had no doubt jostled his wounds.

Leon, despite being in pain, took advantage of Cloud's hesitation, and pushed himself up off of the other, so he could grasp either of Cloud's arms and pin them to the ground. Leon hoped the leverage and the fact that he was injured would prevent Cloud from trying to free himself too much. _'I just want to know where my gunblade is. Why is that so hard to understand? What is his problem? It's not like I can leave now. I'd be too easy of a target as I am right now.'_

Cloud held still, aware that the way he was lying face down and the grip Leon had on either of his arms would prevent him from retaliating without resorting to injuring the other more or causing one of his stitches to break. Cloud rested his head on the carpeted ground with a sigh. He was beginning to be uncomfortable with the way Leon was leaning over him silently.

"Where is my gunblade?" Leon repeated once more, hands tightening when he felt Cloud twitch beneath him. Leon frowned when he received no response of any kind, and from the way Cloud was shifting uneasily below him made the brown-haired man furrow his brow. _'Is he...uncomfortable with me being so close to him?' _Not that it was his problem. Leon just wanted to know where something of his was, and wasn't going to stop until the blond told him. It was a bit childish, but the other man was being so as well by staying tight-lipped. Fine. He'd just have to make Cloud more uncomfortable. Maybe that would get him talking, and then Leon would be more than happy to go back to the bed and rest up. Ignoring why he was about to do what he was, Leon leaned forward so he could mutter in a low voice near Cloud's ear, "Just tell me. I won't be running off once I know where it is."_  
_

Cloud couldn't help but squirm as he felt a puff of breath against his neck. Oh, why was he reacting like this. It never happened before, so why in the world was a complete stranger turning him on so much? It was mainly embarrassing, to end up in such an awkward position. And Leon's voice, when it dropped lower...Cloud squeezed his eyes shut, "Stop doing that."

Leon blinked down at the blond's head in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Cloud fought the urge to squirm again as Leon shifted the hold on his arms, "What you're doing is having the opposite effect on me."

It clicked in Leon's mind what Cloud was hinting at, and he let go of the blond, and moved away as quickly as his injured body allowed. Leon frowned at the faint, barely noticeable blush across Cloud's face as he sat on the ground nearby and let out another sigh. Leon's mind was still on finding his weapon, but he was also unsure of what to think about Cloud being uncomfortable in his presence. _'_Does_ he like me? I thought it was nothing before, but...'_

Cloud slid away from the look Leon was fixing him with, and apparently the logical part of the blond's mind went away with the intensity of the gaze turned on him. Instead of making a run for it, Cloud backed himself in between the bed and the side table, where Leon trapped him, using the bed and table to prop himself up with his arms so he could loom over the cornered blond and prevent escape. At least until Cloud's mind was back online and realized he could overpower Leon if he so chose to.

Leon was surprised that he equated the term 'adorable' with the other man's actions. But it was also amusing to him, because Leon found he liked to make the blond uncomfortable. _'Whatever. Focus on the gunblade.' _ While also apparently making passes at Cloud, since the blond did appear to find him attractive for some reason. Leon wouldn't question it if it helped him locate his wayward blade. Leon brought his face close to Cloud's so he could look the other man in the eyes, "Where is it?" Leon made sure his voice was pitched low, as that seemed to have an interesting effect on the other male as well.

Cloud, his mind still jumbled, looked away and leaned back, speaking with a faintly strained voice, "I'm not telling you." He really ought to have, since it didn't sound like Leon was going to try and leave, but for some reason, Cloud didn't like Leon's method of trying to get the information out of him.

Leon then did something he really should have thought about, and what happened as a direct result was really his own fault. Reading people wasn't exactly something he'd done in the past few weeks, but he should have known better in this case.

Leon reached out with his uninjured hand and tilted Cloud's head, so that the blond, startled, made eye contact with him. Leon hadn't expected to see a bit of anger and embarrassment mixed in with the confusion, but that was really all the warning Leon got when Cloud surprised the hell out of him. It was Leon's turn to slide away as Cloud pushed him backward against the bed, and before Leon could even hiss with the pain _that_ had caused, he found himself pinned up against the bed by the other male, Cloud's arms wrapping around his neck and dragging him into forward into a sudden and unexpected kiss.

Cloud wasn't even thinking about what he was doing, only muttering a quick "tease" before going back to kissing the near stranger in his bedroom.

Said stranger's eyes were currently widened in absolute and utter confusion, though Leon supposed he _was_ being a tease, when he had realized that speaking in a low tone was apparently arousing the other male. Leon supposed he kind of deserved to be jumped for that. _'Not a bad kiss, but still, he's a guy, and I'm sort of, kind of a bad guy, depending on whose side you're on.'_

As soon as the kiss had started, it broke, and Cloud's mind seemed to come back online, and the faint blush was more noticeable, even if Leon was staring at him with a blank expression, like he wasn't sure what to make of what had just happened. Cloud let his arms drop away from Leon to his side, and he leaned away, looking off to the side and wondering why he had just gone and kissed the other man when he hardly knew him at all. What if he already had a girlfriend...or a boyfriend? And why was he even thinking about such things? It wasn't like Cloud thought of Leon like that...he didn't really even know him well enough to be thinking stuff like that...

Leon needed only a few moments to react, and he leaned in back toward Cloud and tugged him forward with his hand, successfully planting a small kiss on his cheek before the blond could react. Ignoring the fact that Cloud appeared to be extremely frustrated and/or embarrassed, Leon growled a few syllables, "Seriously, just tell me where the damn gunblade is." There was a short silence, Leon inwardly thinking 'shit' and Cloud glaring at him, before Leon tired and failed to stop the blond from jumping him.

Regardless of the other's wounds, Cloud pinned the other man down on the ground and began another kiss, irritated beyond belief that Leon continued to say things in that oddly sexy, low tone of voice that seemed to make him react in such an embarrassing way. He was so lost in the kiss that Cloud didn't realize that he had left the bedroom door open, so the first inkling Cloud received that he had an audience was a loud cough and strained comment from Roxas.

"What _are_ you doing Cloud?"

Cloud hastily broke the kiss and sat up, completely ignoring the fact that he was straddling Leon as both he and the brown-haired man glanced up at the teenager in the doorway.

Seeing that he had Cloud's attention, Roxas continued, "Do you know when dinner is? Sora was wondering if he was supposed to help make it."

Cloud was still bit dazed, so he merely stared at Roxas as if he'd never seen him before.

Roxas rolled his eyes and turned, walking away, "Never mind. I'll figure it out." Roxas paused, peeking over his shoulder as though to try and shield himself from the sight, "And next time you decide to jump a stranger like that, at least shut the door."

Cloud finally took stock of his surroundings and flushed a bit as Roxas stalked off, closing the door as he went. Cloud sunk down in shock, not hearing Leon's protesting grunt that the blond had settled on top of him instead of the bed.

Leon was displeased when Cloud actually fell asleep on him, and wasn't sure what to think when Cloud snuggled closer to him in his sleep. Leon stared up at the ceiling in thought. How was he supposed to free himself with all of Cloud's weight on him?

-x

Outside of Cloud's bedroom door, Roxas was staring at the door apprehensively, not sure whether silence was a good or bad thing. He didn't want to walk into anything more awkward than Cloud straddling a near stranger and kissing them. He'd been walking back and forth for nearly ten minutes, debating on whether to open the door or not.

"Did you ask him yet?"

Roxas let out a yelp of surprise as he whirled around, and came face to face with Sora, who was looking back at him in bewilderment. Sighing, Roxas fixed Sora with a faint glare, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"S...Sorry." Sora responded, about to say more when he was interrupted by Leon's muffled voice.

"Could someone get Cloud off of me? He's asleep and I can't do it."

Roxas and Sora exchanged looks, before Roxas opened the door cautiously, though he paused in the doorway as he caught sight of Leon looking up at him, Cloud fast asleep and lying practically on top of the scarred male. Roxas abruptly turned and left, muttering something along the lines of scarring him for life.

"Uh...so, what happened?" Sora asked conversationally, either oblivious or ignoring the fact that the scene could be interpreted as awkward.

"He wouldn't tell me where my blade was."

"Ok...well, hold still, I'll help you get him off of you." Sora moved forward, and with Leon's help, the two managed to maneuver Cloud to the ground, before the two hoisted the slumbering male on to the bed. Sora waited for Leon to settle on the bed as well, before he left the room, "I'll let you guys know when dinner is." He closed the door, leaving behind a bewildered Leon, who, after glancing at Cloud, got up and settled on a nearby chair.

-x

Sora reached the base of the stairs, where Roxas had apparently been waiting for him.

"What did he want?" Roxas questioned.

"Well, he needed help getting Cloud off of him because he wouldn't tell him where his blade was." Sora responded cheerfully.

Roxas' eyebrows rose, and sincerely hoped that Leon had meant an actual weapon. Roxas sighed. Those stupid romance books and that stupid redhead's voice were still in his head, apparently. Luckily, the doorbell rang, and Roxas was grateful to be distracted from those thoughts. He walked down the short hallway to reach the front door, and opened it.

"Heya, Roxas."

Roxas slammed the door shut in the grinning redhead's face, unnerved that Axel somehow knew where he lived. Stalker much? Roxas walked away from the door as Sora passed him, the brunette admonishing him for his behavior, "You shouldn't slam doors in people's faces."

"If it's Axel, then yes, I will." Roxas said, loudly enough for the man on the other side of the door to hear him.

"Aw, I'm hurt and offended." Axel's muffled voice commented after a brief moment.

Sora opened the door and grinned up at Axel, "Hi."

Axel grinned back cheerfully, "How do you put up with him?"

Sora shrugged, still smiling, "He's my brother. I have to put up with him."

Roxas rolled his eyes, before he zeroed in on Axel with a glare, "Why the hell are you outside my house?"

"I followed you home from the library." Axel responded, straight-faced. He loved the fact that he was going to get to tease Roxas a little bit.

"Stalker." Roxas replied, not in the mood.

Axel placed a hand over his heart and gave Roxas as innocent of a look as he could, "Me, never?" The sincerity of the words were ruined when the red head began to grin once more.

"What do you want?" Roxas questioned, if only so he could try and send the redhead on his way.

"You." Again, Axel spoke straight-faced, though what he really wanted to do was laugh at the cute blush that had appeared on Roxas' cheeks.

"Don't say that in such a perverted way."

Axel merely gave a tiny smirk in response.

Sora, entertained by the entire exchange, looked up at Axel, "So why are you here, before Roxas decided to murder us both? You for embarrassing him, and me for witnessing it."

Axel let out a laugh, "I really did want to see Roxas, but I'm actually looking for someone else too."

"Want to come in and talk about it?" Sora asked politely. He found Axel rather interesting, especially since the man could raise Roxas' ire so quickly. It was quite an accomplishment.

"No way." Was all Roxas had to say on the idea of Axel coming into their house.

"Roxas, don't be rude. He hasn't done anything wrong. He just want s to talk. What's wrong with that?" Sora gave a tiny, teasing smile to his brother, "And he did come all the way from the library to see you."

Roxas let out a defeated sigh and walked off, throwing his hands up in the air, "Whatever." He stalked off as he heard Sora invite Axel in and close the door.

Axel watched Roxas storming off, as Sora spoke again.

"So, who are you looking for?"

Axel gave Sora a sideways glance, his attention still on Roxas, "I'm looking for someone who has a scar across the bridge of their nose, and he has brown hair and an odd-looking blade."

Sora didn't like the sound of that, and was luckily able to lie smoothly, because he felt something was wrong about looking for someone by a description without a name. It was suspicious, even to him, "I don't think I've seen anyone like that." Sora smiled at Axel, "Want something to drink?"

"Sure." Axel watched Sora dart off, and knew that the teen seemed to be unhappy about something, but about what, Axel couldn't tell. Instead, Axel turned his attention to the blond teenager. Axel could tell that Roxas was hiding something, and could sense that the blond wanted to run instead of the fast paced walk he was doing. Axel headed after him.

The redhead was intrigued.

-x

Roxas realized that Axel had been talking about Leon, and like Sora, didn't like that Axel was looking for someone with just a description. Maybe Axel was shady like he thought after all. Roxas knew that Leon had made it sound like someone was after him, or at least, Cloud and Demyx did, and after making sure that Axel was engaged in conversation with Sora, Roxas headed right for the staircase.

Roxas was trying very hard not to run. It would be better to ask Leon if Axel was one of the people after him or not. Roxas began to head up the stairs. Why was Axel looking for Leon? It was suspicious, just like Axel was with his stalker tendencies. Roxas got to the landing, ready to breach the final stair, when someone grabbed him from behind, long arms wrapping around his torso loosely as a warm body leaned up against his.

"Where you going Roxy?"

Roxas attempted to get away, not liking the tone in Axel's voice, as it was the redhead who was currently holding him so close, and Roxas didn't like it. Scowling at being unable to free himself, Roxas snapped,"Going somewhere away from you."

Axel chuckled in amusement, but refused to relinquish his grasp on the blond, "Is that so?"

Roxas slumped, not bothering to try and fight, since Axel's lanky body appeared to be stronger than it looked. He had only one option at this point, and while it was humiliating, he wanted to get Cloud or Leon's attention. Roxas sucked in a breath of air, about to let out yell (Roxas refused to cal it a scream, but that was what he felt like doing) when he was foiled by one of Axel's hands covering his mouth gently but firmly. Roxas shivered uncomfortably as he felt Axel breath quietly against his hair.

"Please, don't scream. He's here, isn't he?" Axel fell silent, easily keeping one arm looped around Roxas to prevent escape, and using the other to stop the blond teenager for crying out for help. With a light sigh, Axel spoke in a quieter, almost pleading tone, "Tell me where he is...I don't want to have to hurt you."

Roxas realized that it was pointless to try and escape, since he couldn't break the redhead's grasp. Roxas had thought that Axle was just some creepy stalker, but this made him worry that there was something criminal in Axel's background. Roxas let out a muffled sound. All at once, Roxas stumbled forward as Axel let go of him suddenly. Roxas turned quickly, deciding then and there that allowing Axel to sneak up behind him had been a mistake. The redhead had moved in pretty quickly.

Axel shook his head and looked away, torn, "I can't do this anymore..."

Before Roxas could think to ask him what he meant by that, he was pulled backward as Cloud whipped by him and tackled Axel to the ground. Roxas chanced a look over his shoulder, and saw that it was Leon who had pulled him away. Roxas could tell that Leon's eyes were fixed on Axel, and he did not look happy in the least bit. Roxas figured that it didn't help the injured male's mood when Axel grinned up at him cheerfully from where he was pinned to the ground.

"Hey, you didn't die. That'll piss the boss off for sure."

Roxas glanced between the smiling redhead, and Leon, who was pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a few breaths, as if he was trying very hard to resist the urge to go over and kick the downed redhead, despite his injuries.

Cloud, meanwhile, was utterly confused, as he had only woken moments before, and had merely reacted at Axel seemingly trying to harm Roxas.

Axel was content to wait for someone to break the silence, since he was just relieved that it seemed like he wouldn't be going back to report to his boss anytime soon.

-x

On the opposite side of the city, in an abandoned warehouse, someone was waiting for information to be brought to them. The silver-haired man swept impatient orange eyes over the immediate vicinity. Things were taking far too long, and while he would have liked to have done things himself, he didn't want to attract too much attention. At least, that was what his second-in-command had suggested would happen. The man paced back and forth. No news had come in on who had been the person that Marluxia had shoved out of harms way. Not that the pink-haired man had lasted long after that. The silver-haired male hated traitors. Marluxia was likely dying in a hospital somewhere, and would therefore be unimportant once he was dead.

"Xemnas."

The silver haired male turned, and nodded to the blue haired, yellow-eyed man that came out of the shadows, "Saix. What news?"

Saix rolled his shoulder in a shrug, "Not much, sir. I'm waiting for Axel and Xigbar to report back. Larxene said she wasn't going to come back, if Marluxia dies."

Xemnas let out a soft snort as he tilted his eyes to stare at the sky through a window, "Humans. I'll give her a few days to sort out her feelings, but if she doesn't come back, she can join Marluxia if he loses the fight to live." Xemnas was silent for a moment, before glancing at Saix silently. Something seemed to pass between the two, as Saix nodded and turned to leave.

Alone once more, Xemnas continued to stare at nothing in particular, until he finally drifted away, out of the abandoned warehouse. If anyone needed to find him, they would be able to do so, if he allowed it. Distorting space was a convenient way to keep most hunters and assassins away from him.

-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Another longer chapter since I was having fun typing it (hopefully not too much ooc). I mainly remember in FFVIII that Squall seemed to think a lot and not speak as much, so I am kind of playing around with that. And Axel. I have way too much fun writing him in stories. Poor Roxas. I'm assuming the story is okay so far due to the follows, but if you have any thoughts about it, it'd be great to hear them. I've changed the plot around a lot for the midway point to the end, so I'll eventually have to go back and edit the first 7 or 8 chapters at some point. And fix any potential grammar mistakes in the later chapters. In any case, I'll continue to try and update this once or twice a month while I look for a full time job.


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